Government financial support for rescue and recovery efforts has been requested by four prefectures heavily affected by Monday’s earthquake.
Ishikawa, Niigata, Toyama and Fukui prefectures have applied for assistance for 47 municipalities under the Disaster Relief Act. This means that the government and the prefectures will share the costs of providing immediate support to disaster victims, including rescuing people, setting up shelters, providing daily necessities, and repairing heavily damaged homes. The government will cover 50 to 90 percent of these expenses.
In addition, Japan’s health ministry has instructed hospitals to offer health insurance coverage to patients affected by the earthquake, even if they cannot show their insurance certificates.
The ministry has sent the notification to medical institutions across Japan, urging health workers to confirm patients’ personal information, including their names, addresses, and birth dates before giving diagnosis or treatment.