Photo/Illutration Volunteers load a sodden tatami mat onto a truck from a house in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 27. (Koichi Ueda)

Almost a month after the deadly quake in Ishikawa Prefecture, volunteers are only now being permitted to help with clean-up efforts in the worst-hit areas.

The prefecture initially urged outsiders to stay away, citing extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure from the magnitude-7.6 earthquake.

As local governments are not equipped to accept volunteers, the task fell to the prefectural government.

On Jan. 27, it gave the go-ahead for volunteers from across Japan to begin working in Nanao, Shika and Anamizu, municipalities which suffered significant damage in the Jan. 1 quake.

Authorities said recovery and reconstruction efforts in the Noto Peninsula remain challenging due to severed roads and collapsed buildings.

This, in turn, has made it difficult to secure transportation.

For the time being, volunteers are using buses provided by the prefecture to make day trips from Kanazawa, the prefectural capital, to help remove debris from damaged homes.

Seventy-five individuals, both local and from outside the prefecture, who had registered as volunteers in advance on a special website, got to work on Jan. 27.

They departed from Kanazawa before 7 a.m. on four buses provided by the prefecture.

In each of the municipalities, they split into small groups to remove furniture from damaged homes to designated disaster waste collection sites. The on-site activities lasted for around four hours, and then they returned to Kanazawa in the evening.

The number of people registered on the website has already surpassed 15,000. It was set up on Jan. 6.

When the prefecture sought to recruit 560 volunteers to assist in clean-up efforts in the three municipalities from Jan 27 through Feb. 2, the maximum capacity was reached within three minutes of the recruitment opening.

Numerous homes were destroyed in the earthquake, resulting in a large number of evacuees who now require assistance with debris removal. Volunteers are also being enlisted to staff evacuation centers.

However, the prefecture has requested that volunteers refrain from engaging in activities that have the potential to cause traffic congestion and hinder recovery efforts.

Participants recruited by the prefecture are expected to be self-sufficient. This includes arriving with appropriate winter clothing and being able to pay for meals.

At this point, the number of volunteers is restricted.

Severely affected areas such as Wajima and Suzu are still plagued by water outages. In the absence of being able to fully assess the needs of the affected residents, officials said it is not yet possible to accept volunteers there.

Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase urged those who wish to volunteer to register in advance on the website and wait for further recruitment announcements. He also continued to call for support through donations.

(This article was written by Eriko Nami, Takeshi Shimawaki and Yoshito Asakura.)

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