The death toll from the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 1 is likely to exceed that from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, it was learned Tuesday.
At a joint meeting of the Ishikawa government and affected municipal governments in the central Japan prefecture, the official recognition of 22 post-disaster deaths was proposed.
If they are formally recognized as indirectly related to the magnitude 7.6 earthquake, the death toll will climb to 282 to top the Kumamoto quake's 276.
At the second joint meeting, five member doctors and lawyers examined 26 deaths, including three in the city of Nanao and 23 in the city of Wajima. As a result, they found that 22 were indirectly caused by the quake while leaving the remaining four in Wajima to be discussed again.
So far, there have been 30 officially recognized post-disaster fatalities.
Bereaved families of those who were officially confirmed as direct or indirect victims of the temblor will receive up to ¥5 million each from relevant municipal governments.
The Noto quake death toll will certainly rise further as more than 100 families are seeking official recognition for their deceased members, people familiar with the matter said.
In the massive earthquake in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto, 221 of 276 deaths were attributed to indirect causes.
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