Kanazawa: Construction of temporary housing units began on Friday in Wajima and Suzu, two cities in the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa that were hit especially hard by a massive New Year’s Day earthquake.

Construction started to build 50 temporary homes in Wajima and 65 in Suzu, with completion expected in early February, according to the prefectural government.

Preparations are also underway to build a total of 60 such housing units in the Ishikawa towns of Noto and Anamizu.

The prefectural government is also preparing for such construction in other areas. It also plans to utilize public and private housing in and outside Ishikawa to accommodate evacuees.

Following the magnitude-7.6 earthquake, some 22,000 people were taking refuge at some 380 emergency shelters in Ishikawa as of Friday.

The prefectural government is working to get people out of communities isolated by the earthquake.

The death toll from the earthquake has reached 215 in Ishikawa, including 14 who died due to indirect causes, the prefectural government said Friday. A total of 28 people remain missing.

Around 56,000 homes are still without running water, while around 12,600 households face power outages.

JIJI Press