Noto Quake-Hit Areas Discontent over Home Damage Assessments

Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref., Nov. 3 (Jiji Press)--Residents of areas struck by the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan have expressed dissatisfaction over the results of local governments' assessments of their damaged homes.

According to six municipalities in Ishikawa Prefecture that were especially hit hard by the 7.6-magnitude quake, 37 pct of houses that underwent building damage assessments received reinvestigations after complaints.

Many have noted inconsistencies in assessments and discrepancies between the results and the actual situations, posing challenges to residents' efforts to rebuild their lives.

Masayuki Kozakaya, 76, head of the Najimi district of the Ishikawa city of Wajima, said that his house received a "semi-destroyed" disaster certificate in the first survey. But he was told by an expert he knew that the house's foundation was tilted and that he should seek a reassessment.

His house was given the "partially destroyed" status, one level above the semi-destroyed status, in the second screening.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]