Building of temporary housing begins for central Japan quake victims

Local authorities on Friday began construction of temporary housing units for people whose homes were damaged by a powerful earthquake that struck central Japan on New Year's Day.The Ishikawa prefectural government is planning to build 115 makeshift houses in Wajima and Suzu -- the two cities hardest hit by the magnitude-7.6 temblor -- and 60 more in the adjacent towns of Noto and Anamizu in about a month.Due to severe damage to roads in the area, around 1,900 people remain cut off in the prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. The death toll from the disaster stood at 215 as of Friday aftern…READ FULL ARTICLE