By HIRAKU HIGA/ Staff Writer
January 2, 2024 at 16:00 JST
Smoke rises from an area of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, hit by a tsunami. (Tatsuya Shimada)
Toppled buildings, buckled roads, capsized boats and coastal districts devastated by fire or tsunami brought home the scale of destruction from a series of earthquakes on New Year’s Day.
The quakes around the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture generated tsunami along a wide stretch of coast facing the Sea of Japan. The strongest of the quakes had a maximum seismic intensity of 7 on the Japanese scale.
Plumes of white smoke rose above Wajima where the water in the Sea of Japan turned a reddish-brown shade from the dirt and sand kicked up by the retreating waves.
An area near Wajima Port popular with tourists for its morning market was engulfed by fire from the afternoon of Jan. 1. Buildings in an area of about 500 meters square burned to the ground, leaving a flattened wasteland.
About 250 meters inland, a seven-story building collapsed on its foundations, blocking off part of the road in front.
While there were traces of snow in the mountainous area to the rear, landslides left streaks of brown amid the white and green. Deep cracks appeared in nearby roads and the entrance to a tunnel was blocked.
A temple near the mountainous area came crashing down and gravestones toppled over in the quakes.
Suzu, about 35 kilometers east of Wajima, was closer to the focus. Suzu had already suffered damage from a major quake last May. Several dozen homes lost most of their roof tiles.
The tsunami swept several coastal homes dozens of meters inland, leaving only their foundations exposed.
Several boats overturned in the nearby bay, and one washed ashore.
Huge craters appeared in the Noto Satoyama Kaido road that runs in a north-south direction through the Noto Peninsula, creating traffic snarls around the Noto Airport area.
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