Kumamoto quake leaves 1,073 people in shelters three months later
Housing damage, water supply problems and job losses persist, while all earthquake-damaged railways have been restored.
Three months after July’s earthquake in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture, 1,073 people remained in evacuation shelters as reconstruction continued. The disaster killed 38 people, a toll that includes deaths from indirect causes.
The quake reached the Japanese shindo scale’s highest intensity, level 7. Prefectural authorities reported damage to 82,223 houses, including 11,429 that were either partially or completely destroyed. By Oct. 21, just one house had been demolished under a publicly funded program.
Evacuee numbers have fallen from a peak above 10,000, and 2,685 people have moved into temporary housing. The prefectural government has also announced draft reconstruction plans covering residents’ daily needs and communities’ resilience to disasters.
Infrastructure repairs are halfway complete, although every railway damaged in the earthquake has been restored. In Yatsushiro, the outlook for restoring wells remains uncertain, and the city lacks enough plumbers. City officials had received 3,690 consultations by Oct. 13, including inquiries about homes without running water.
The disaster had also caused about 380 people to leave their jobs by Oct. 16, according to the Kumamoto Labor Bureau. The bureau has handled about 4,200 consultations, while prefectural authorities and other organizations are offering employment assistance.
