Photo/Illutration A drone image captured on Feb. 16 in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, shows the seabed, left, exposed outside the Kaiso Port due to ground uplift from the New Year’s Day earthquake. (Tadashi Mizowaki)

WAJIMA, Ishikawa Prefecture—Drone footage has captured the extensive damage and eerie landscape around Kaiso Port here, where the Noto Peninsula earthquake raised the seabed by nearly four meters.

Images taken on Feb. 16 show one fishing boat capsized and three others scattered in the port. In the surroundings, the dry, exposed rocks of the former seafloor have been bleached white by dead seaweed.

The port is a base for squid fishing boats and as many as 60 vessels from outside the prefecture launch from there during the season starting in May.

However, it remains unclear when the port will be fully restored and functional.

“Everything is a mess. Nothing is certain about the future,” said Shigeru Yamamoto from the Monzen branch of the prefecture’s fisheries cooperative association.

Out of 69 fishing ports in the prefecture, 60 have suffered damage to breakwaters and docks, according to prefectural officials.

Due to the upheaval, the seabed has been exposed or the water depth has become insufficient in 22 ports.

(This article was written by Tadashi Mizowaki and Kazuhiro Nagashima.)

Related News