The 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake: Preliminary observations and lessons to be learned

On 1st January 2024 an Mw7.5 earthquake occurred along an active fault across the Noto Peninsula. The tremors generated a wide range of cascading hazards, including geological uplift, liquefaction, landslides, fires and tsunamis. This study offers some preliminary observations on the impacts of the cascading hazards. It also describes the pattern of casualties and the experience of evacuees and the management of evacuation centers. The hazards caused damage to buildings and infrastructure and more than 240 deaths. As usual, most casualties were caused by building collapse, but there was a high incidence of death by hypothermia and cold, which is different from the impact of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and reflects the harsher winter climate of this Noto Peninsula. Tsunamis arrived within a few minutes but killed only two people, which testifies to the high awareness of tsunamis in this area. Severe damage to roads significantly delayed early recovery as transportation was curtailed. This earthquake also showed how the problems of evacuees and evacuation shelters had remained unresolved since the 2011 disaster. The main lessons to be learned from this disaster are that improving the earthquake resistance of buildings is important even in Japan, which has a long history of anti-seismic construction. Special provisions are needed for disasters that occur during peak winter or summer weather. Special plans are required to repair and reopen roads damaged by earthquake and to support vulnerable people in both the short and the long term after disaster.