Sheltering, at a Distance: Distributed Sheltering Efforts in Response to the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake

On January 1st, 2024, the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, a M7.6 earthquake, struck the Ishikawa and Toyama Prefectures of Japan at 4:10PM, resulting in at least 282 deaths and the evacuation of coastal residents to tsunami shelters. While the tsunami had localized impacts, the effects of the earthquake were felt across the region, and a largescale sheltering effort was designed to accommodate displaced survivors. Given the remoteness of the affected area and the needs of the affected population, however, responders struggled to bring necessary supplies and services to evacuees, and the decision was made to move most evacuees to larger inland cities, often hundreds of kilometers away from their homes. For this RAPID study, our team explored how emergency management stakeholders navigated evacuation, sheltering, and re-entry planning and decision-making during this event. We conducted 16 semi-structured interviews with emergency management stakeholders at Japan's local, prefecture, and central government levels in July 2024. Participants were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy designed to identify agency representatives and other officials involved in response to the earthquake. While analysis is still ongoing, preliminary findings center around three key issues. We found that the shift to intermediate and long-term sheltering away from the affected area was largely improvised to address the medical and caregiving needs of elders and individuals requiring assistance. Second, participants frequently reflected on how the response to the Noto Earthquake was largely influenced by lessons learned from the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami, particularly regarding transport and sheltering of the elderly population. Third, we found a disconnect between local- and prefecture-level decision-making around sheltering decisions, leading to considerable anxiety on the part of local governments regarding the long-term viability of their communities. Our findings provide insights for future evacuation and sheltering efforts where shelters are established away from the affected location.