Support for Friends Suffered by Noto Earthquake

Hello, I am Saiko Adachi. I am originally from Ishikawa prefecture in Japan. I was supposed to have my usual casual text exchange celebrating the New Year on January 1st with my family and friends but that never happened this year.

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit Noto region of Ishikawa in the midst of many families celebrating the start of the New Year. I woke up to the devastating news and frantically tried to reach out to my family and friends who live in the area. Thankfully, all of them are safe now.

However, my close friends who I went to nursing school with, were all profoundly affected by the earthquake and tsunami that followed. Yoko Washio, who is a public health nurse, lives in the Noto-machi region of Ishikawa prefecture. Her house was destroyed by the earthquake and the car was lost by the tsunami. Similarly, Yuko Kobayashi and Noriko Kuroda, who also work as public health nurses for the Anamizu region of Ishikawa, have also lost their homes due to this earthquake. Despite the fact that all of their families are now in shelters set up at a local school gym, they are all working around the clock helping the people in her town affected by this disaster. They spend every day visiting affected people who live in shelters or their houses to ensure their safety, despite having lost their own houses. My friend, Yuki Hamatani is a nurse at a hospital in Wajima region of Ishikawa prefecture and has not left the hospital since 1/1 because her hospital was designated as the base hospital during this disaster.

Update on Jan 12.

Yuki works hospital all the time after earthquake. In the hospital, main water pipe and sewage system are still broken. they cannot use the sewer. It is still unpredictable when the water problem is restored. Other three are living in town halls which are designated as shelters and working as public health nurse every day. Four of their families evacuated from the affected area and live separately with them.

I am raising funds for my 4 friends. My goal is to raise $10,000. All donations will go equally to my 4 friends who are working tirelessly helping others when they themselves have lost their houses and their properties. The funds raised will help them rebuild their own day to day lives when things settle down. I really appreciate your help and assistance in helping my friends.

Thank you,

Saiko Adachi