Six months since the New Year's Day quake struck the Noto Peninsula area of Ishikawa Prefecture, locals are continuing to struggle with the aftermath of the magnitude 7.6 temblor.

The quake, which left 281 people dead, also damaged 83,980 houses and forced up to 34,000 people to evacuate from their homes.

The number of evacuees dropped to 2,288 as of Thursday, and shelters are gradually shrinking. Water outages have been resolved except for about 1,500 houses in mountainous areas where there is a risk of landslides.

Construction of temporary housing has progressed, and about 17,000 people have moved in makeshift houses, including existing apartments rented by local governments. By the end of August, the Ishikawa Prefectural Government aims to complete about 6,800 houses that municipalities have applied for.

The demolition of collapsed houses at public expense, meanwhile, has not progressed. More than 18,000 of about 20,000 houses for which applications were accepted have not yet been dismantled.

The population outflow was serious in the prefecture, especially among younger generations. In four municipalities in the Okunoto region that were hit hard by the quake, the population fell by 2,600 in the four months since the quake, three times the number over the same period last year.

In the Okunoto region, elderly people accounted for as high as about 50% of the total population as of April, meaning that local governments have to step up efforts to prevent their isolated deaths.

The prefectural government and municipalities will use about ¥54 billion in reconstruction funds created with state tax grants to provide support for people affected by the quake.