Japan quake exposes fire risk to picturesque old neighborhoods
About 200 structures went up in flames in Wajima after New Year's temblor
TOKYO -- The deadly earthquake that struck central Japan on New Year's Day has brought renewed attention to the risk of catastrophic fires in areas packed with old wooden buildings.
The quake, which hit the Noto Peninsula on the Sea of Japan coast, was followed that evening by a fire in the city of Wajima that lasted into the morning and spread to roughly 200 buildings.
The neighborhood is home to one of Japan's most famous market streets, with shops and stalls lining about 360 meters of road. The market is a historic landmark that draws hundreds of thousands of tourists yearly to the Ishikawa prefecture city.
"The location is dense with old wooden structures, so the fire spread easily," said Yu Hiroi, a University of Tokyo professor who is an expert on urban fire prevention.
The area affected by the fire was densely packed with homes and businesses.
"Most of the buildings on the market street were made of wood," a Wajima city official said.
The death toll from the earthquake has climbed to 73 as of Wednesday, Ishikawa prefecture officials say.
Fires have repeatedly laid ruin to dense concentrations of wooden buildings -- areas called mokumitsu -- in Japan.
The wooden homes in these areas are built along narrow roads that prevent easy access by firetrucks and complicate evacuation efforts. Fires in these neighborhoods often cause widespread damage.
When the Great Kanto Earthquake struck Tokyo in 1923, fires destroyed more than 40% of the city center. Of the over 100,000 people dead or missing as a result of the 1923 quake, more than 90,000 were attributed to the fires.
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism maintains a map of densely built areas nationwide at risk of large fires following an earthquake or other disaster. The ministry's definition also takes into account the difficulty of evacuation.
As of the end of 2022, 1,875 hectares in 12 prefectures fit that description. Many of the places are in huge cities such as Tokyo and Osaka that experienced rapid urbanization during the economic boom after World War II. There are also high-risk neighborhoods in places like Kobe and Nagasaki, which have many built-up areas on hillsides.
The land ministry's list did not include any neighborhoods in Ishikawa prefecture, underscoring the hidden risk of quake-triggered fires.
In May 2022, Tokyo officials warned that a major earthquake with the capital at the epicenter could cause 6,148 deaths, about 40% of which would be the result of fires.
Tokyo launched a project in 2012 to reduce the risks associated with dense concentrations of wooden buildings. These areas were targeted for support that widened roads and replaced wood with reinforced concrete.
In 2020, places designated by Tokyo as dense with wooden buildings totaled 8,600 hectares, or about half the area identified a decade earlier. Yet the areas remaining account for 14% of Tokyo's 23 wards. Tokyo uses different criteria from the land ministry in designating such zones.
One obstacle to eliminating the fire hazards involves the age of the residents. Many people living in high-risk areas are senior citizens with limited money to rebuild homes. The residents also tend to have a strong attachment to their neighborhoods and be unwilling to move elsewhere.
The University of Tokyo's Hiroi recommends steps like the widespread installation of seismic circuit breakers that prevent fires from sparks that could occur when electricity is restored after a quake.
"There are areas that retain wooden buildings due to their cultural significance, so it's necessary to promote initiatives that are appropriate for each area," Hiroi said.
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