Photo/Illutration Shinya Tsukada, director of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s Earthquake and Volcanic Engineering Affairs Division, speaks at a Jan. 8 news conference. (Ryo Oyama)

The risk of another major earthquake hitting the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture has dropped in half, but the likelihood is still 100-fold greater than before the Jan. 1 disaster, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

This probability level for a quake with a seismic intensity of at least upper 5 on the Japanese scale of 7 will remain for a month, the agency said at a news conference on Jan. 8.

Aftershocks of that size have already rattled disaster areas in the prefecture, hampering rescue efforts.

“Damage has accumulated in buildings through the quakes until now,” Shinya Tsukada, director of the JMA’s Earthquake and Volcanic Engineering Affairs Division, said at the news conference. “I hope people will be sufficiently cautious when taking part in recovery activities because there is a possibility the structures will collapse with even small shakes.”

The magnitude-7.6 earthquake on New Year’s Day also registered a maximum intensity of 7 on the peninsula.

The JMA had warned that another intensity-7 quake could strike the same area over a one-week period from Jan. 1.

Although the number of daily quakes has decreased, 1,221 tremors with a seismic intensity of at least 1, the smallest class that can be felt by humans, were observed between 4 p.m. on Jan. 1 and 4 p.m. on Jan. 8.

About 450 quakes with a magnitude of at least 3.5 struck over the one-week period. The figure is close to double that following the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.

Snowfalls on Jan. 7 and 8 have also interfered with search-and-rescue efforts.

As of 3 p.m. on Jan. 8, 11 centimeters of snow had fallen on Suzu city, 9 cm on Nanao and 8 cm on Wajima.

Rain is forecast for some parts of the region between Jan. 9 and 11, and temperatures are expected to drop to between 1 and 3 degrees.

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