U.S. delivers supplies to Japanese communities devastated by earthquake

FORUM Staff

Two United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are delivering essential supplies — food, blankets and medical resources — to towns and villages in Japan’s Noto Peninsula devastated by an earthquake January 1, 2024. More than 220 people died in the temblor that destroyed or damaged buildings and infrastructure, including the region’s few main roads, and aftershocks and sub-freezing temperatures hampered rescue efforts.

Japan requested the U.S. assistance, which includes a $100,000 aid package from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. The U.S. aerial assistance enables Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) rescuers to focus on evacuating injured and displaced residents from the peninsula that juts into the Sea of Japan. With roads and seaports damaged by the quake, air transport was a primary means of access to the region, which has a high percentage of senior residents.

U.S. Army Aviation Battalion Japan, headquartered at Camp Zama in Kanagawa prefecture, provided the helicopters, the Stars and Stripes newspaper reported. The aircraft were temporarily assigned to Komatsu Air Base on Ishikawa prefecture’s west coast and will carry relief supplies to Noto Airport. About 7,000 JSDF troops are conducting relief operations, including transporting supplies from Noto Airport to evacuation shelters, according to media reports. Fifty aircraft and 10 ships also were operating in the earthquake zone, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at a news conference.

“This operation is a clear demonstration of U.S. commitment to our ally Japan, and America’s compassion to the people of Japan recovering from this natural disaster,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp, commander of U.S. Forces Japan, said in a statement.

The magnitude 7.6 quake was Japan’s deadliest since twin earthquakes killed 276 people in the southwestern Kumamoto prefecture in 2016. The Noto quake spawned tsunamis up to 5 meters high and ignited fires that burned more than 200 shops and residences in the city of Wajima, The Japan Times newspaper reported. The quake’s effects were especially profound in isolated parts of the peninsula. As of mid-January, 22 people were missing, the newspaper reported.

Kihara said the JSDF works closely with U.S. Forces Japan, which had rotary-wing aircraft available to respond quickly, The Diplomat magazine reported.

Following a massive quake and tsunami in Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region in 2011, the JSDF and U.S. military conducted the Operation Tomodachi relief mission, and U.S. personnel also assisted with supply efforts after the Kumamoto quakes.

“A true friend shows up when times are good but more importantly when times are challenging,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel wrote on social media after the Noto earthquake. “The [U.S.] is here to support our friend and ally in its earthquake response.”