KUMAMOTO -- Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the first of a pair of earthquakes that occurred 28 hours apart in Kumamoto Prefecture, each registering the maximum of 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. The second of the pair was officially named the Kumamoto Earthquake, with the first one considered a foreshock.
Fifty people died in the pair of earthquakes, 221 people died from earthquake-related causes and five died as a result of secondary disasters caused by heavy rain.
Thirty-four people, including bereaved families, attended a Wednesday memorial service held by the prefecture. Kenzo Tomioka, 58, the representative for the bereaved families, lost his father Osho, then 83, on April 16, 2016 during the second quake.
"The grief we felt that day will never go away, but with the kindness and support of others, we are able to be here today," Tomioka said.
The Kumamoto Earthquake marked the first time that the maximum of 7 on the intensity scale was registered twice during the same series of seismic activity in the history of seismological observation in Japan.
Five years later, 418 people from 150 households still live in temporary housing in the prefecture.
Although the number of residents living in temporary housing is less than 1% of the peak figure of 47,800 and progress has been made to help rebuild the lives of those affected, it is important to continue providing long-term support.
It has been confirmed that two people living in their own units in public housing for disaster victims, so-called reconstruction housing, died alone in those homes.
To help those in ill health or living alone after leaving temporary housing, administrative authorities have found it necessary to provide long-term support to 549 households in the prefecture's 12 cities, towns and villages that were hit hard by the disaster. Of those households, 142 are in Mifune, 80 are in Mashiki and 77 are in Kumamoto City.
Each municipality is looking at how it can best support those affected by the disaster.
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