Two years after a series of strong earthquakes struck Japan's Noto Peninsula, Wajima City in Ishikawa Prefecture, one of the hardest-hit areas, continues to face a slow and complex recovery in both reconstruction and tourism.
On January 1, 2024, a series of strong earthquakes, including a major 7.6-magnitude quake, struck at shallow depth in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture and triggered a tsunami. The Japan Meteorological Agency has officially named it the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.
The Wajima Lacquer Museum, a major tourist attraction before the disaster, still bears visible scars.
Kensei Sumi, secretary-general of the Wajima Lacquerware Commerce and Industry Cooperative Association, said the museum's first floor reopened to the public three months after the quake. However, the exhibition rooms on the second floor remain closed as they have not yet been restored from the damage.
"The violent shaking of the earthquake caused glass panels to fall, damaging the exhibits within. The building is publicly owned by the city of Wajima, and the municipal government had planned to repair it. Although a budget was allocated, no contractor willing to undertake the repairs has been found, leaving the structure in its current damaged state," said Sumi.
The museum, once a major attraction for visitors, is now far less frequented due to the broader downturn in local tourism. Sumi notes that current daily visitor numbers are only about one-tenth of pre-earthquake levels, attributing the decline primarily to the slow restoration of surrounding infrastructure rather than to the museum itself.
"Currently, this site is just one among many infrastructure projects in need of repair, including roads and buildings. The Wajima Municipal and Ishikawa Prefectural governments must address them sequentially, prioritizing the most urgent sites first. The sheer number of facilities requiring repair, coupled with a shortage of available construction companies, is the primary reason for the slow progress. Furthermore, the fact that most contractors have to travel from Kanazawa City, approximately 100 kilometers away, creates a logistical constraint that further hinders reconstruction," said Sumi.
Two years on, Japan's Noto Peninsula still struggles with earthquake recovery
Armed police officers and soldiers, in coordination with multiple professional rescue forces, are conducting in-depth search and rescue operations for missing people in the core disaster zone in Mingkeng Village of east China's Jiangxi Province.
At around 07:00 on Tuesday, the rescue headquarters integrated 12 professional teams, including the armed police, public security, and the fire department, to launch a search-and-rescue operation for missing persons in the hardest-hit area of the Shixia group of Mingkeng Village.
As of 18:00 on Tuesday, the mudslide that occurred in the early hours of Saturday has killed 12 people, including one newly identified missing person found in subsequent searches. At present, one person remains unaccounted for, and rescue forces are intensifying their search and rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, the Ji'an Detachment of the Jiangxi Armed Police Force deployed officers and soldiers to extend rescue efforts to surrounding disaster-affected townships.
On Tuesday morning, rescuers split into multiple teams and rushed to several villages in Zuo'an Township and Tanghu Township of Suichuan County to urgently evacuate the trapped residents.
Trapped in mountainous areas, villagers faced destroyed access roads and mountain paths that became slippery and impassable after days of heavy rainfall; most stranded residents were elderly people with limited mobility. The armed police officers and soldiers conducted door-to-door checks and carried the trapped residents on their backs, successfully evacuating all of them to safe zones.
"All village roads are completely impassable. The local residents here are all left-behind elderly people and children, and it is extremely difficult to complete the evacuation relying solely on the strength of the town government officials. This time, we are deeply indebted to the armed police officers and soldiers for their assistance in evacuating all these elderly residents," said Wang Yuli, deputy mayor of Tanghu Township in Suichuan County.
"The mountain slopes are covered in thick mud, making the ground extremely slippery. In some sections, stretchers cannot pass through at all, so rescuers have to carry the stranded people on their backs. As long as the people are safe, it is worthwhile to endure all the hardship and exhaustion," said Jiang Jiang, a soldier of the Ji'an Detachment of the Jiangxi Armed Police Force.
Rescuers intensify search efforts in mudslide-hit village in east China's Jiangxi
