Japan doubles planned emergency budget reserves to back Noto quake relief

FILE PHOTO: Policemen search for victims in Asaichi-dori street, which burned down due to a fire following an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, January 7, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet decided on Tuesday to double the planned amount of emergency budget reserves for fiscal 2024/25 to help recovery from the deadly Noto peninsula quakes, government officials said on Tuesday.

The magnitude 7.6 earthquake devastated the Noto peninsula, northwest from Tokyo, on New Year's Day, leaving over 220 people dead and dozens of others missing, making it the deadliest since the 2016 quake in Kumamoto in the southern Kyushu region.