Photo/Illutration NTT Docomo's mobile base station operates in a quake-hit area in Ishikawa Prefecture. (Provided by NTT Docomo Inc.)

Mobile phone service operators have temporarily fixed damaged telecommunication networks in the earthquake-stricken region of Ishikawa Prefecture, except for areas inaccessible due to damaged roads.

Those isolated areas will also be back online within a couple of days once the roads are repaired, according to officials from NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corp., SoftBank Corp. and Rakuten Mobile Inc., who held a joint news conference on Jan. 18.

The magnitude-7.6 quake on New Year’s Day caused network outages across the region, primarily due to damaged optical fiber cables and power outages at base stations.

By Jan. 17, the four major operators had restored their networks in accessible areas by deploying generators and vehicles equipped with base station antennas.

However, a full, permanent recovery of the communication infrastructure will take much longer, as it first requires restoring roads and electricity grids.

“Severely limited access to damaged facilities is what distinguishes this quake from others,” said Hiroshi Kobayashi, general manager of NTT Docomo’s network department, citing challenges posed by cut-off roads and heavy snow.

Meanwhile, Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase said on Jan. 19 that most people in isolated communities had been evacuated from the areas, with only 26 people left within cut-off settlements--23 in Wajima and three in Suzu, as of Jan. 18.

Of those, nine will be relocated soon. Local officials are persuading the remaining residents to also move out for the time being.

Due to damage to roads and other infrastructure, 3,345 people were left isolated on Jan. 8, including 2,817 in Wajima, 495 in Suzu, 20 in Anamizu and 13 in Noto.

Many of those people have since been evacuated to hotels and shelters in the southern part of the prefecture by Self-Defense Forces helicopters.

As of 2 p.m. on Jan. 19, the death toll from the quake stood at 232, according to the prefecture. There were also 22 people missing or unaccounted for, an increase of one from the previous day.

(Yuriko Suzuki and Shuhei Shibata also contributed to this article.)

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