Thread: Strong quake prompts tsunami warning Japan

Originally Posted by Switch

I think it’s a social history thread, recording how slow Japan is at rebuilding construction damage.

This news is nearly six months old. No wonder it’s a bit sluggish.

It stopped being news after about a week.

Seventh Meeting of the Headquarters for Supporting Recovery and Reconstruction from the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake

On June 10, 2024, Prime Minister Kishida held the seventh meeting of the headquarters for supporting recovery and reconstruction from the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, the participants engaged in discussions on efforts toward recovery and reconstruction.

Grieving quake victim opens Noto-themed pub in Kawasaki

wooden sign reading “reconstruction in progress” hangs at the entrance of a Japanese-style “izakaya” pub here, a seemingly odd message to display on opening day of the business.

Kenji Kusunoki, 56, the owner of the Wajimanma pub, explained the meaning.

“It is partly because my heart is still recovering. But I also feel that people forget that Noto is still recovering,” he said.

Wajimanma was also the name of an izakaya that Kusunoki had operated on the first two floors of his home in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Kusunoki and four family members were inside that home on New Year’s Day, when the magnitude-7.6 earthquake rocked the Noto Peninsula region. A neighboring building collapsed on the family’s home.

Kusunoki, his second son and second daughter managed to escape. However, his wife, Yukari, 48, and eldest daughter, Jura, 19, were trapped in the rubble and later died.

Kusunoki stayed at an evacuation center in Wajima until April. At night, memories of the disaster came back to haunt him.

But he felt he had to work for the sake of his remaining family members, including the second son, who has a disability.

Kusunoki decided to open another izakaya in Kawasaki, where he and his family used to live.

Kawasaki was the place where he first met Yukari about 30 years ago as well as the site of his first restaurant, called Manma, which means, “You are fine just as you are.”

Yukari came up with name for the restaurant.

She was originally from the Noto region, and the family eventually moved to Wajima, where Kusunoki opened Wajimanma on June 10, 2018.

Exactly six years later, on June 10, he opened the new Wajimanma in Kawasaki.

The pub serves Noto specialties, such as puffer fish, oysters and local sake drinks.

“I want to show people the charms of Wajima so that the earthquake will not be forgotten,” Kusunoki said.

The doors opened at 5:30 p.m. Kusunoki stood in the kitchen wearing a T-shirt with a “Wajimanma” logo, which he had retrieved from the rubble of his crushed home.

The very first customer was a 64-year-old self-employed man, who said, “I want to support not only the restaurant but also the entire Okunoto region.”

Within an hour, Wajimanma was filled to capacity.

“I did not expect so many people to come,” Kusunoki said.

Although Kusunoki said he will never forget the past, he also has plans for the future.

“I want to open a restaurant in Wajima someday, even if it is a small one,” he said.

Moisturizing Substance Suddenly Forms in Hot Spring Water; Curious Change Occurs in Toyama Pref. Resorts After Earthquake

Following the Noto Peninsula Earthquake on Jan. 1, the chemical composition of the hot spring water at the Unazuki Onsen resort in Kurobe, Toyama Prefecture, was discovered to have changed, resulting in an increase in a substance that helps moisturize the skin.

“The earthquake caused a lot of cancellations for us, but this is an upside to it. We want to publicize this so we can revitalize our hot spring district,” a source connected to the local inn industry said.

Unazuki Onsen is one of the most popular hot spring resorts in Toyama Prefecture. The spring water is weakly alkaline and the temperature of the spring is about 90 C. The resort first opened in 1923 as a recreational facility for laborers working on a local power plant project.

“I’ve lived at this hot spring resort for more than 20 years, but this is the first time the composition of the water has ever changed. I couldn’t believe the earthquake did this!” said Rumiko Nakajima, 53, the proprietress of Hotel Kurobe (part of Unazuki Onsen), not hiding her surprise.

It was two days after the quake when Nakajima noticed something was different about the hot spring water, she says. When she soaked in it, she felt it was thicker than usual, seeming to wrap itself around her body. A few days later, the tiles in the main bathing areas suddenly began to turn brownish.

Around the same time, the office that manages the resort’s hot spring source heard from many local inns that their hot spring water developed a color and looked unusual.

The inns in Unazuki Onsen get their hot spring water from a roughly seven-kilometer system of pipes linking them to the Kuronagi Onsen hot spring, upstream on the Kurobe River.

According to Fujio Hyakkoku, 55, director of the management office, the water at the spring is clear and colorless, the same as before the quake, and also unchanged in temperature and volume. The pipe system was not damaged by the quake.

He said, “It was a mystery why the color of the water changed after it reached the inns.”

The office then asked the Toyama Prefectural Institute of Public Health to analyze the water’s composition.

A water sample was taken on Jan. 31 at the point where the hot water is distributed to the inns, and the analysis showed that the manganese ion content per kilogram of hot spring water was 0.3 milligrams, 75 times higher than in the previous analysis, performed in 2014. The brown coloration is believed to be caused by a chemical reaction between manganese and the chlorine the inns use to disinfect the water.

The analysis also showed that the level of metasilicic acid, which has a moisturizing effect and is therefore included in skin lotions and similar products, had more than quadrupled to 120.1 milligrams from 26.9 milligrams in 2014.

According to a cooperative association of inns in the Unazuki Onsen resort, reservations for 4,571 people, or 30% of the total number made at its member inns in January, were canceled, resulting in a loss of 95.43 million yen.

Nakajima said with a smile: “Our hot water supply never stopped [after the quake]. We also have some new advertising fodder. I’m a little more positive now.”

There is precedent for the composition of hot spring water changing after an earthquake.

At the Akiha spa Casui in Niigata, crystallized sand-like particles began to accumulate on the bottom of the bathtub after the 2004 Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake. An analysis of the water revealed that the concentration of calcium ions and hydrogen carbonate ions had increased significantly.

Hideo Takizawa, head of the research department at the Hot Spring Research Center, Japan, said: “During an earthquake, groundwater pressure can fluctuate, which may affect hot springs. In the case of Unazuki, fluctuations in groundwater pressure may have changed how the water mixes, affecting its chemical composition.”

Tainan donates NT$246 million to Ishikawa Prefecture for quake relief

Tainan’s Taiwan-Japan Friendship of Culture Exchange Foundation (TJFCA) donated 1.2 million yen (NT$246.85 million) to Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture on Wednesday (June 12) for disaster recovery following the 7.5 magnitude Noto Earthquake in January.

TJFCA honorary Chair Kuo Chen-hui (郭貞慧) flew to Ishikawa to meet with the incumbent governor Hase Hiroshi and handover the financial aid, Liberty Times reported. This is Tainan’s second donation to the prefecture after Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) and Tainan City Council Speaker Chiu Li-li (邱莉莉) raised 5.7 million yen in March. TJFCA also helped collect daily necessities and supplies, which have already been sent to Ishikawa.

Kuo said Taiwan is also prone to earthquakes and understands the severity of the Noto Earthquake.

The chair handed an invitation from Chiu inviting the governor to attend the 10th Taiwan-Japan Exchange Summit, which will be held in Tainan in July. The last time the summit was held in Taiwan was in 2018, in Kaohsiung.

Hase said he was excited to participate and expressed gratitude for the donations, noting that substantial aid has been received from Taiwan.

The Noto Earthquake struck Ishikawa on Jan. 1, severely damaging the cities of Suzu, Wajima, Noto, and Anamizu and killing 260 people. More than 12,000 residents were moved to evacuation centers immediately after the quake.

Noto Earthquake claims reach $578.2m in May

Of the total claims collected, 68.7% were paid.

The value of claims paid for the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake stood at $578.2m (Y90.97b), as of 31 May, data from the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ).

Previously, claims paid stood at $540m in 26 April data.

About 56.3% of the total claim payments amount were under the Ishikawa Prefecture.

To tally, there were 150,567 claims collected, whilst 145,899 investigations were completed since 1 January to the May date.

Living Conditions at Evacuation Centers: Sleeping Crowded Together Not Good for Health

The Noto Peninsula Earthquake has once again highlighted the reality that there has been a delay in improving living conditions at evacuation centers, which are opened when a disaster strikes. The central and local governments need to make improvements so that disaster victims can maintain their physical and mental health.

Due to the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, which occurred on New Year’s Day, there have been 30 “disaster-related deaths,” which are deaths caused by the deterioration of victims’ physical health as a result of living in evacuation centers, rather than due to collapsed buildings or tsunami.

Even though it was difficult to provide immediate assistance as a result of the severity of the roads, many of the affected people were still sleeping on floors — grouped together with strangers — and surviving on onigiri rice balls and instant noodles even one month after the earthquake. Although conditions have improved since then, many people still remain in evacuation centers.

The majority of disaster-related deaths are among the elderly. Many of them died as a result of being infected by the coronavirus or getting influenza while living in groups at evacuation centers or as a result of a chronic illness worsening due to the stress on their physical or mental health.

Japan has been struck by disasters many times in the past, and the harsh conditions at evacuation centers have surfaced as a problem each time. It is heart-wrenching to lose people due to conditions at evacuation centers after they survived the disaster.

Although it is the role of local governments to manage evacuation centers, they are often unable to procure and distribute supplies because their own staff have been affected by the disaster. In addition, there is reportedly a strong belief that some inconvenience is inevitable at the time of a disaster.

In contrast, in Taiwan, where an earthquake measuring upper 6 on the Taiwan seismic intensity scale of 7 occurred in April, partitions were set up in evacuation centers immediately after the quake to protect evacuees’ privacy, and hot meals were provided.

This is believed to be the result of local governments’ efforts to strengthen cooperation with private organizations and businesses based on lessons learned from past earthquakes.

In Italy, which is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in Europe, local governments and volunteer groups have also secured food trucks in addition to restrooms and tents.

While simple comparisons cannot be made due to the differences in scale of disasters and geographical features, it is necessary to create an environment in which disaster-affected people can live with peace of mind during the hard times immediately following a disaster. There must be some things that can be learned from the attitudes of foreign countries and regions where the public and private sectors are working together to protect the health of those affected.

In Japan, some local governments have procured mobile bathroom trucks and food trucks for disaster relief. It is hoped such vehicles will be prepared in various regions, keeping in mind the viewpoint of the affected people.

Business and medical circles have requested that the central government act as a control tower at the time of a disaster and take the initiative in improving living conditions at evacuation centers.

A disaster can occur at any time and any place. It is important to make sure preparations are sufficient during normal times so that support can be provided even immediately after a disaster strikes.

Debate on 'dark tourism' looms over Japan's quake-hit Noto Peninsula

Residents of the Noto Peninsula in central Japan have been witnessing a curious surge in tourists, a mere five months after the region was severely damaged by a major earthquake.

While some see the boost in tourism as a positive -- a way for people to grasp the reality of the situation in the region amid growing concerns of a drop in visitors following the New Year's Day temblor -- others argue the trend of people traveling to the remote peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture is a form of "dark tourism."

Experts say there are benefits to people seeing the devastation first-hand, provided the focus is on its historical value rather than focusing on the death and tragedy that occurred, with tourists urged to continue supporting the peninsula, which extends into the Sea of Japan, once they return home.

Dark tourism is a term used to describe travel done for the fascination of seeing places historically associated with death and suffering.

At the Wajima Asaichi, a morning market that has operated for more than 1,000 years in the regional hub of Wajima, tourists took pictures of the destruction left at the site with their smartphones during the Golden Week holiday season.

One man stopped his motorbike to look at the devastation of the burned ruins, gazing with amazement at the transformed landscape.

"I know what happened because of news media reports, but I'm shocked to see the actual scene," said the man in his 50s from the city of Toyama, who visits Noto annually. He added that he had not come merely on a "pleasure jaunt" but brought medicine and other relief supplies to hand out to the disaster's victims.

A motorcyclist in his 40s visited the area from Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, during a biking tour across Japan. "Time passes in the blink of an eye here," he said. He plans to write about his trip to Wajima and what he saw there in his travel blog.

Transportation networks severed in the quake-stricken areas have been gradually restored, making it easier for visitors to travel to the region, while some local restaurants have reopened.

Some local residents welcome tourists to Noto now that visitors to the peninsula have declined.

Noriko Takebayashi, 60, who operates a flower shop in Wajima, was recently surprised when she was asked for directions by a driver from Kagoshima Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture on the island of Kyushu. She obliged, but said she hoped the driver would let others know about the city's devastation.

The owner of a restaurant in a tourist facility in Wajima suggested that it is important to look forward instead of "always crying" about the disaster. "Tourism remains alive because people come to see the effects of the earthquake," she said.

But other locals are more resistant to having visitors, especially if they are only coming to witness the devastation. "Some come here just for fun," said a woman in her 50s.

Shocked by the devastated condition of Wajima Asaichi, a place so familiar to her, she is still reluctant to go there herself and has mixed feelings toward tourists walking around the area.

Akira Ide, professor of tourism studies at Kanazawa University, pointed out there is "a strong tendency in Japan to view dark tourism as inappropriate." Following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit the Tohoku northeastern region of Japan, people criticized the tourists who visited the devastated sites.

But Ide also said that dark tourism enables visitors to consider how reconstruction projects should be carried out, as they can discover facts not reported in the media and learn first-hand about disasters.

Stressing that visitors should pay due consideration to disaster victims, Ide said they "might as well travel to affected places if they can explain the reasons for their visits."

He said because of the prolonged reconstruction work underway and the continual support it needs, efforts to prevent a decline in visitors in the area are needed more than ever.

He called for continued financial support for the Noto region from tourists after they return home through donations and other measures, such as the "hometown tax" program, which lets people earmark part of their tax payments for specific municipalities.

Noto quake survivors afflicted with lifestyle-related diseases

The number of people with lifestyle-related diseases has increased in Wajima City in central Japan, which was hit by a powerful earthquake on New Year's Day.

Wajima Municipal Hospital says the food at shelters, as well as stress, combined with other factors, are to blame.

Hospital officials have been examining, on a monthly basis, the percentage of patients who had been diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipemia following the Noto Peninsula quake.

In January, more than 7 percent of all patients were diagnosed with at least one of the diseases. The figure is nearly three times the figure of 2.5 percent recorded a year before.

The number of people who have these lifestyle-related diseases has remained high. As of June 13, the figure stood at 3.3 percent, more than double the figure of 1.6 percent recorded last year.

Hospital officials attribute the trend to quake-induced anxiety and stress among evacuees, meals high in salt, and few opportunities to go out for exercise.

Tanaka Satoshi, a 64-year-old man who lives in temporary housing in Wajima with his wife, has had diabetes and hypertension for 30 years.

After their home was destroyed in the quake, the couple lived in their car or at various evacuation centers, before moving to temporary housing in March.

Tanaka said he tried to exercise by going out for walks every day.

But he and his wife were unable to cook for themselves at shelters, and as a result they ate boxed meals, instant noodles and such meals which are high in salt.

Between January and May, he gained 2.5 kilograms, while his average blood glucose levels worsened. He says he is now consuming less salt and improving his diet, while addressing the lack of exercise.

A senior hospital nurse says she is concerned about what is yet to come as there may be people with life-style diseases that have yet to be examined.

She is calling on quake victims to have medical exams or visit hospitals periodically.

Noto Quake's Death Toll Seen Exceeding Kumamoto Temblor's

The death toll from the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 1 is likely to exceed that from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, it was learned Tuesday.

At a joint meeting of the Ishikawa government and affected municipal governments in the central Japan prefecture, the official recognition of 22 post-disaster deaths was proposed.

If they are formally recognized as indirectly related to the 7.6-magnitude earthquake, the death toll will climb to 282 to top the Kumamoto quake's 276.

At the second joint meeting, five member doctors and lawyers examined 26 deaths, including three in the city of Nanao and 23 in the city of Wajima. As a result, they found that 22 were indirectly caused by the quake while leaving the remaining four in Wajima to be discussed again.

So far, there have been 30 officially recognized post-disaster fatalities.

PBV’s Relief Efforts in Noto Continue: Public Bath Project

As of May 28, 112 people were dead and 3 were missing in Wajima, and more than 14,000 houses were either completely or partially destroyed, left on the ground waiting to be demolished or cleared. Temporary housing has been built and evacuees have begun living in new places, but many of these residents do not know what to do with the houses and property left behind. Some evacuees commute to their former residences to clear the area and look for their belongings.

Since the current temporary housing is not sufficient and new units are still under construction, quite a few people had no choice but to live in their original homes which have no water supplies back yet.

After the earthquake, the Japanese Self-Defence Forces set up temporary bathing facilities at five locations in Wajima. However, as water supply began to be restored, they gradually withdrew these facilities, and recently the last facility in Machino Town has been taken out of service. However, demand for public baths remains high in the affected areas of Wajima, as there are still many households without access to running water.

In light of this situation, PBV constructed a temporary public bath facility in Machino Town, which began service on May 30th and local residents, volunteers and constructors are now using on a daily basis. This number includes not only local residents but also volunteers and aid workers. This number indicates that the area is in need of continuous support and that it will still take some time for people to get back to their daily lives.

In addition to changing and bathing areas, we created a rest lounge where visitors could chat, exchange information about their situation, and encourage each other. In fact, conversations in this lounge helped us to deepen understanding of the homebound evacuees. We hope that this facility will help prevent home evacuees from becoming isolated and provide a place to socialize.

The 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake: A long, quiet initial rupture leading to multiplex fault ruptures

At approximately 4:10 p.m. on January 1, 2024, the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan was hit by a large earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.5. This earthquake, known as the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, registered a maximum seismic intensity of 7 on the Japanese scale and caused widespread damage, including numerous casualties.

Several active faults, primarily extending in a northeast-southwest direction, are known to exist in the Noto Peninsula and its surrounding areas.

For approximately three years prior to the earthquake, slow aseismic crustal deformation and active seismicity, which were believed to be associated with subsurface fluid movement, had been observed. Understanding how these active fault networks and crustal activities contribute to major earthquake ruptures is crucial for comprehending earthquake generation mechanisms and the production of intense shaking movements.

In a study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers examined global seismic waveform data to estimate the rupture process of the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake.

Findings suggest that the earthquake comprised multiple rupture episodes. Notably, the initial rupture, which lasted approximately 10 s after the earthquake, coincided with the preceding active crustal activity zone. Moreover, the main rupture that followed the initial rupture was bifurcated into west and east ruptures across the initial rupture zone, where each zone had sequentially rupturing faults with varying orientations and inclinations.

This study highlights that the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake was governed by a network of faults with diverse geometries and that it was closely linked to the crustal activity observed in the initial rupture zone prior to the main shock.

This intricate rupture growth process is anticipated to provide valuable insights for gaining an improved understanding of earthquake mechanisms and assessing earthquake damage risks.

Retrieving digital memories of Noto

The earthquake that hit the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day not only destroyed the physical infrastructure it also erased many people's digital data. We look at efforts to help a local photographer, so she can continue recording her community.

Video in the link

Noto Mission Becomes Japan SDF's Longest Quake Response Project

A mission taken up by Japan's Self-Defense Forces in response to the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake became the SDF's longest quake response program Sunday, excluding decontamination work related to the 2011 nuclear accident triggered by a massive earthquake.

Sunday marked the 175th day since SDF members were dispatched to areas affected by the New Year's Day earthquake in central Japan, longer than the mission following the March 2011 major earthquake and tsunami that mainly hit northeastern Japan.

The record-long mission reflects time-consuming work to restore water supply and sewerage systems. The Defense Ministry plans to continue support based on requests from local communities.

The cumulative number of SDF members dispatched to areas affected by the Noto quake has reached some 1.13 million. They searched for missing people, transported goods and provided water supply support.

About 100 Ground SDF members are continuing to support bathing services in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, although the number of dispatched troops has dropped thanks to infrastructure restoration.

Bathing Still Not Possible at Some Homes in Suzu due to Slow Repairs Six Months after Noto Peninsula Earthquake

Bathing at home is still impossible in some parts of quake-hit Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, nearly six months after the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula Earthquake as repairs to septic tanks for treating sewage and sewer systems have not progressed as hoped.

The situation is an example of the difficulties in restoring infrastructure in depopulated areas.

“It’s getting hotter, and we can’t live without the help of the Self-Defense Forces,” said a 41-year-old local company employee on a recent evening after leaving a temporary bath facility set up by the Ground Self-Defense Force at the municipal Horyu Elementary and Junior High School.

The man lives in the city with his wife, children, parents and grandmother. After the quake struck, tsunami surged into the road in front of his house, which was later declared partially damaged. He and his family evacuated to Kanazawa, but returned to Suzu in May so his children could resume their studies at local junior and senior high schools.

The tap water supply to his house has been restored. However, the septic tank remains unrepaired, so the family is still waiting for workers to fix it. As used water cannot be drained, taking a bath at home is not possible. The family also has to use an emergency portable toilet.

The SDF continues to provide bathing services at the school and three other locations in Suzu, and about 500 people use them each day.

Just after the earthquake struck, the SDF set up temporary bathing facilities at 18 locations in six municipalities in the prefecture. Now, the facilities are only in Suzu, as the water and sewer systems have been restored in the other municipalities.

Before the earthquake, only about 50% of the households in Suzu were connected to the sewer system, and many used septic tanks. Since the quake struck, the repair of broken septic tanks has not progressed as hoped. Even when the water and sewer systems have been restored up to points close to households, the restoration of the water and sewer pipes extending from the systems to their premises has sometimes been similarly slow.

As each household needs to individually request repairs, the municipal government does not know how many households have yet to regain water supply and drainage capabilities.

One reason behind this situation is a serious shortage of repair workers.

Local plumbing company Sanbyakugari Kanko has 18 employees and is currently getting extra workers from other firms outside Suzu. Even so, Sanbyakugari Kanko is facing a shortage of staff to handle the many requests for repairs it has received. It is only recently that the company has been able to begin repairs for which it received orders around February.

“It’s necessary to create an environment to accept repair workers from outside the city for a long period of time,” said Nobue Kunizaki, head of the Risk & Crisis Management Educational Institute in Yokohama, which has expertise in disaster relief.

Located at the tip of the Noto Peninsula, Suzu is far not only from Kanazawa but also from Nanao and Wajima, the other cities on the peninsula. To accommodate such workers, “lodging facilities in Suzu should be quickly restored,” Kunizaki said.

To address the problem, the prefectural government submitted a proposal at a prefectural assembly meeting in June for a program to subsidize transportation and accommodations costs incurred by residents in the six municipalities to hire repair workers from outside their municipality. The project is aimed at reducing the financial burden on residents and repair workers, thus speeding up the restoration process.

A total of 168 applications had been submitted for the subsidy program by the end of May.

“It’s still difficult for local repair workers alone to handle all the needs [in the six municipalities],” a prefectural government official said.

Japan's Noto quake claims hit $571m. Hyogo hailstorm costs at $355m

According to the latest data release from the General Insurance Association of Japan, insurance claims for the January 1st M7.5 earthquake that hit near the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture now stand at around US $571 million, while a hailstorm event in Hyogo prefecture in April has driven US $355 million in claims so far.

japan-earthquake-january-1-2024Claims from the New Year’s day earthquake in Japan are up by around 16% since we last reported on this loss event in April.

The so-called Noto Peninsula Earthquake struck on January 1st and caused severe impacts to some towns across the four Japanese prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata, Toyama, and Fukui.

Significant property damage was experienced and as the insurance and reinsurance market loss estimates began to emerge, it was clear the event was a relatively significant one for the domestic insurance industry, with the potential for some minor global reinsurance effects as well.

The General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ) put the total claims paid from the quake at over JPY 74.44 billion as of March 31st 2024, but has now raised the total to over JPY 90.97 billion as of May 31st.

At today’s exchange rates, that total equates to roughly US $571 million.

Which still stands well-below the industry loss estimates, including the most recent which was Cresta saying it was a $1.9 billion catastrophe insured loss event.

Recall that, the first industry loss estimate to be released for this Japanese earthquake was from modelling firm Karen Clark & Company (KCC), which put the insured losses from the quake at an estimated $6.4 billion.

The next to issue an insurance market loss estimate for the Japanese earthquake was CoreLogic, which said it is likely to be below $5 billion.

Then, Verisk’s Extreme Event Solutions business unit put the insurance industry loss at between JPY 260 billion (US $1.8 billion) and JPY 480 billion (US $3.3 billion).

Finally, Moody’s RMS estimated it to be between JPY ¥ 435 Billion to ¥ 870 Billion (US$3 Billion to US$6 Billion).

As ever, the true cost to the economy and the global insurance and reinsurance market is hard to derive from these estimates.

The GIAJ has also reported on another recent insurance market loss event in Japan, a severe hailstorm event that struck Hyogo prefecture on April 16th.

Almost JPY 56.5 billion in insurance claims have been filed and paid for this event already, which equates to roughly US $354 million.

Auto insurance claims from the hailstorm in Hyogo made up roughly US $197 million of that total, with fire insurance that covers properties another US $155 million, and the remainder other casualty insurance lines such as personal accident covers.

The majority of both these catastrophe losses have been retained in the primary insurance market, with reinsurance shouldering a much smaller proportion than would be seen in the case of larger events.

Noto Quake Death Toll to Reach 300 with 18 More Indirect Deaths

-The death toll from the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan is projected to reach 300 as 18 more indirect deaths are expected to be recognized.

On Tuesday, the Ishikawa prefectural government and affected municipalities held a joint meeting and were advised to recognize 18 deaths as related to the disaster.

The 18 cases include the deaths of a COVID-19 patient and an elderly person who lost physical strength while hospitalized.

Such a joint meeting has been held three times so far, and the local governments have been advised to recognize a total of 70 indirect deaths.

The affected municipalities will formally decide whether to recognize indirect deaths.

Noto quake ruins half of buildings built on earlier strength rules

About half of buildings constructed under previous quake-resistance standards were destroyed in the New Year’s Day earthquake on the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, a survey found.

The survey, conducted by the Hokuriku Branch of the Architectural Institute of Japan, covered about 7,000 buildings in three hard-hit municipalities: Wajima and Suzu cities and Anamizu town.

The branch’s preliminary report, released on June 25, explained the fates of 5,700 buildings that have been inspected visually.

According to the survey, 38 percent of these buildings were constructed under the quake-resistance standard that was in place until 1981, when a stronger standard was enforced.

The standard was amended again in 2000, in light of the damage wrought by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. That stricter standard is currently in effect.

Around 90 percent of the buildings erected before 1981 in those areas were either damaged or destroyed by the quake.

On the other hand, fewer than 10 percent of buildings constructed since 2000 were damaged or destroyed.

“Some of the buildings based on the newest standard are already more than 20 years old, but they have proved strong enough to withstand structural damage in quakes,” said Akira Murata, an assistant professor of civil engineering and disaster prevention at Kanazawa University.

However, 20 percent of the buildings built between 1981 and 2000 under the “intermediate” standard collapsed in the Jan. 1 quake.

“The survey implies that the standard of 1981 was not strong enough,” Murata said.

More than half of all buildings in the Shoin district of Suzu city were destroyed. But in the town of Anamizu, which was hit by similar potentially destructive shaking, fewer than 20 percent of the buildings collapsed.

“The damage may have accumulated in the buildings (in the Shoin district) because of repeated earthquakes in the area,” Murata said.