The Japan Meteorological Agency on Thursday issued its first-ever alert warning about a possible megaquake around the Nankai Trough, following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Miyazaki Prefecture off the coast of Kyushu at 4:43PM.
How can we support the lives of elderly evacuees in disaster-affected areas? This is a challenge that Japan faces as a whole as its population ages.
Four months have passed since the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in central Japan. In the Okunoto region that was hit directly by the quake, close to half of the residents are seniors. Elderly care facilities that have supported the welfare of local residents also sustained major damage.
The governor of Miyagi, one of the northeastern Japan prefectures hit hard by a massive earthquake and tsunami 13 years ago, emphasized the need for psychological care for those affected by the disaster.
The number of people experiencing mental issues has gone up due to changes in their environment following the March 11, 2011, disaster, Murai said, adding that the number of elderly residents living alone has increased as well.
While Wajima City is facing a staff shortage problem, facilities used by people with disabilities have reopened on March 11th.
However, the 25 staff members before the earthquake were forced to evacuate outside the city, and now there are only 8 staff members.
Residents with mental and intellectual disabilities have faced difficulties finding and staying at evacuation centers in disaster-hit areas of Ishikawa Prefecture.
The shelters are not equipped to provide the special needs of these quake victims, and other evacuees have complained about their new disabled neighbors.
People with disabilities accounted for more than 20% of deaths caused by physical and mental strain following major earthquakes in the 2010s in Japan, a recent Kyodo News study showed.
The survey of local governments showed 21% of deaths linked to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan involved people with disability certificates, while the comparable figure from the 2016 quakes in Kumamoto Prefecture, stood at 28%.
The figures are particularly high when compared with the proportion of disabled people in the population, which the central government estimates at 9%.
The Japanese government will create a new program in which financial assistance of up to ¥3 million will be provided to households with elderly or disabled members in six municipalities in the northern Noto Peninsula, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday.
The program is aimed to help residents of the disaster-hit area, which has a large elderly population, rebuild their lives.
A meeting of a national organization made up of local politicians with disabilities was held in Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture on January 15th, and the plan was to provide extensive support to people with disabilities in anticipation of a prolonged evacuation period following the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.
NHK reported on its TV programme ‘News Watch 9’ on January 22nd that four ‘Group Homes’ and facilities for people with disabilities in Ishikawa Prefecture decided not to take the ‘secondary evacuation’ option, out of a concern that a change of environment might be disruptive to their mental health.
This is a short audio extract from the NHK G TV programme ‘News Watch 9’ broadcast on January 19th 2024, reporting about the elderly and people with disabilities in Ishikawa prefecture after the earthquake on January 1st 2024.
Barrier Free Japan