To Avoid Disaster-related Deaths

One week has passed since a great earthquake hit Noto Peninsula on new year’s day. Mainichi Shimbun reported on Tuesday that one person died in a shelter in Noto city, marking the first victim of refugee in the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. It is important for the government to prevent “disaster-related deaths,” which frequently exceeds the direct deaths from quakes, fire or tsunami. Saving saved lives is getting important as well as saving the missing.

Ishikawa Prefectural Government updated on Tuesday January 9th the damage from the earthquakes, in which death toll climbed to 202 including 6 disaster-related deaths. The missing amounted to 102 and 565 were injured. 1414 houses were destroyed or partly broken. 3123 people in 22 districts were isolated without supplies, losing access of transportation from outer area. 26,158 people are living in 404 shelters.

 

Blackout prevents the people from going back home. It snowed much these days. Fuel for heaters is in short everywhere. Some people lay themselves down on futons spread in agricultural greenhouse of farm. It is not easy for the people in shelters to access warm meals and water to drink. Most restrooms are unavailable without electricity and water. Although medical staffs are reaching Noto Peninsula from all over Japan, more people are losing control in maintaining their own health.

 

Aged people are vulnerable to the life in evacuation. Many of them have their own chronic disease, such as high blood pressure or back pain. Distant from urban area, the ratio of aged people is high in Noto Peninsula. It is severe for them to live in shelters with low temperature of mid-winter. If evacuation is prolonged, it is possible that more people suffer from ill condition of health and even die.

 

Although the national and local governments began their effort to build temporary houses for the people who lost their houses, it takes certain period of time to contain all of the evacuees. While some hotels are designated for the shelters, their capacity is not enough and financial support from the government is limited.

 

According to a report of Kumamoto Prefectural Government, 273 people were died with the earthquake in 2016. Among them, 50 were died directly caused by the earthquake, including the cases such as buried under the collapsed houses or buildings. Other 223 were categorized as disaster-related deaths. Most of them were exhausted with their uncomfortable life in evacuation. East Japan Great Earthquake in 2011 marked 3,794 disaster-related deaths, most of which were in Fukushima, where the people were forced to evacuate their hometown for a long time.

 

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decided to designate Noto Peninsula Earthquake as a “severe disaster,” to which the government will deliver larger financial support. It is not about how much money is accumulated, but how fast the helping hands reach the suffered people to save their lives. Kishida needs to exercise his leadership to united the nation.

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