Building of temporary housing begins for central Japan quake victims

Local authorities on Friday began construction of temporary housing units for people whose homes were damaged by the powerful earthquake that struck the Sea of Japan coast on New Year’s Day.

The Ishikawa Prefectural Government is building 115 makeshift houses across four locations in Wajima and Suzu, two cities hit hard by the magnitude 7.6 quake, and aims to have them completed in a month.

Due to severe damage to roads in the area, around 2,500 people remain cut off in the prefecture. The death toll from the disaster stood at 215 as of Friday.