Two Months After the Kumamoto Earthquakes: Over 1,500 Still in Evacuation Centers Amid Growing Concerns

Two months have passed since the Kumamoto earthquakes struck. Although residents are gradually moving into temporary housing, more than 1,500 people continue to live difficult lives in evacuation centers across the region.

On social media, surprise and concern have spread regarding the reality that many disaster victims are still forced to live in evacuation centers even as time passes since the disaster. Comments such as 'I never thought more than 1,500 people would still be in evacuation centers after two months' and 'I was shocked to learn about this through the news' have been posted. In addition, there are many calls for improvements to the shelter environment, where privacy is difficult to maintain, as well as for the delayed restoration of water and other lifelines.

Furthermore, there have been numerous posts highlighting the existence of so-called 'invisible evacuates' who are living in cars or damaged sections of their homes, alongside anxieties about secondary disasters caused by repeated aftershocks and approaching typhoons. Opinions calling on the administration to provide temporary housing with a sense of urgency and to focus even more efforts on supporting the disaster-affected areas have also been raised.

The context

The Kumamoto earthquakes were a series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 6.5 foreshock on April 14, 2016, and a magnitude 7.3 mainshock on April 16, 2016, which caused severe damage in Kumamoto Prefecture and surrounding areas. Two months after the disaster, while public attention often shifts away, evacuees faced prolonged displacement, compounding physical and mental stress. Long-term support, both material and psychological, along with urgent improvements to living environments, remains a critical and ongoing necessity to help affected individuals regain their normal lives as quickly as possible.