A group of volunteers including alpinist Ken Noguchi have opened a tent village in the Kumamoto Prefecture town of Mashiki to provide temporary shelter for victims of the deadly earthquakes that began April 14.

In the town's central park Sunday, Nomura and other volunteers set up about 120 tents resembling the ones he used when climbing Mount Everest.

Mashiki is among the communities hit hardest by the quakes, and the park has been serving as an open-air evacuation center.

"I've heard that many people are sleeping in their cars and I wanted to create a space where they can relax," Noguchi, 42, explained.

The family of Airi Fujiwara, a third-year student in junior high school, was among those who asked to use a tent.

"The car is full of our belongings so I couldn't really move," the 14-year-old said. "Since my school has been closed, I'd like to put a table inside the tent and study there."

The project is led by Noguchi and the Okayama-based Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA), which provides emergency relief, as well as eight municipalities around the nation that have formed a rescue cooperation network in the event that a huge earthquake will strike along the Nankai Trough.

The team of volunteers also donated sleeping bags and mattresses for the evacuees.

Noguchi, who serves as the environmental tourism ambassador for the city of Soja, Okayama Prefecture, has worked on various mountain cleanup projects around the world, including Mount Everest and Mount Fuji.