Three months after the New Year's Day earthquake rattled the Noto Peninsula, over 8,000 individuals continue to live in evacuation centers, prompting experts to question why lessons from past disasters haven’t been learned.
Despite incremental improvements marked by the introduction of cardboard beds, the initial scene of individuals sleeping huddled on gymnasium floors has persisted — a recurring theme in disaster response.
Kazuhiko Hanzawa, a specially appointed professor of cardiovascular surgery at Niigata University and executive director of the Association for Evacuation Shelters and Evacuation Living, expressed dismay at encountering clusters of evacuees sleeping on the floor.