Quake-hit Kumamoto pledges more housing help, 3 yrs after disaster

KUMAMOTO, Japan -- The governor of Kumamoto Prefecture on Monday promised greater effort to help people displaced by earthquakes resettle, three years after two powerful jolts in the southwestern Japan prefecture and its vicinity claimed 273 victims.

"We will speed up our efforts so everyone can secure housing," said Kumamoto Gov. Ikuo Kabashima at a meeting of the prefectural government's reconstruction task force, noting more than 16,000 people remain in temporary housing in disaster-hit areas.

On April 14, 2016, a magnitude 6.5 quake struck the region, followed by a M7.3 temblor two days later.

Fifty people were killed when buildings collapsed on top of them, and 223 others died in the aftermath of the disaster, while more than 200,000 residences were destroyed or damaged in Kumamoto and Oita prefectures.

A ceremony marking the quakes' third anniversary was held on Sunday at the prefectural government, with some 350 people attending.

"There is no end to my sorrow, but I would like to live an independent life and help reconstruct our village," said Keisuke Masuda, 81, from Minamiaso, Kumamoto, at the ceremony, representing families of the disaster victims.

After losing his wife Fumiyo, 79, and their home to the disaster, Masuda temporarily lived with his son in Tokyo but returned to Kumamoto thinking he should be close to her. He now lives alone in temporary housing.

By the end of last year, the prefecture finished demolishing more than 35,600 damaged buildings with public funds, and processing some 3.11 million tons of waste left by the disaster.

Still, 16,519 people remain in temporary housing and homes rented out by the private sector, whose costs are being shouldered by local governments, according to the prefecture.

Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190415/p2g/00m/0dm/084000c