Photo/Illutration The Wajima Asaichi market area in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, is seen on Jan. 29 after it was destroyed by a fire caused by the New Year’s Day earthquake. (Shinnosuke Ito)

Quake-damaged electrical wiring was the likely ignition point of the inferno that destroyed the popular Wajima Asaichi market in Ishikawa Prefecture, a Fire and Disaster Management Agency report said Feb. 15.

An electrical fire is believed to have started in a building located in the southwestern part of the market in Wajima shortly after the Noto Peninsula earthquake struck on Jan. 1, according to the report.

No fire-using appliances were running in the building, and the electrical wiring inside had melted, the report said.

The fire spread and eventually consumed a total area of about 49,000 square meters while destroying about 240 buildings. The blaze was finally extinguished in the evening of Jan. 6.

The investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by the agency’s National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster in cooperation with the local fire department and the Ishikawa prefectural police.

The fire was detected at 5:23 p.m. on Jan. 1, more than an hour after the magnitude-7.6 earthquake struck.

Within three hours, the flames had spread 150 meters both north and south from the point of origin, an analysis of photographs and videos of the fire shows.

The fire had spread an estimated 300 meters east from the point of origin by 4 a.m. the following day.

Two buildings in the area caught fire from flying sparks at around the same time, fueling the movement of the flames in this direction.

The agency said it is still trying to determine how the fire spread northward.

It took half a day to bring the fire under control and five days to extinguish it completely.

The agency said wide roads, parking lots and other open spaces, as well as fire-resistant buildings, helped to prevent the fire from spreading further.

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