Kumamoto Quake Damage on Farm Sector Seen Topping 100 B. Yen

Kumamoto, May 1 (Jiji Press)--Damage from a recent series of powerful earthquakes on the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, is expected to reach 102.2 billion yen, the prefectural government said Sunday. Noting that the three sectors are key industries in the prefecture, Kumamoto Governor Ikuo Kabashima told reporters at the prefectural government office, "We need to quickly achieve restoration of the sectors and take a strong step forward." Damage on the agricultural industry is estimated at 76.7 billion yen, including 36.9 billion yen on such facilities as reservoirs and ditches, and one billion yen on crops such as strawberries, eggplants, watermelons, melons and tomatoes. Livestock farmers also suffered damage. Damage is seen coming to 23.5 billion yen for the forestry industry and 1.9 billion yen for the fisheries industry. The estimates were based on on-site research conducted by municipalities in the prefecture. But research was impossible for some heavily damaged areas. "I believe we have mostly figured out the extent of damage," an official of the prefectural government said. "But there is a possibility that the amount of damage will increase," the official added. The Kumamoto government also said a tentative survey has found that 13,113 buildings in the prefecture are now dangerous after being damaged by the earthquakes. The figure is higher than 11,699 buildings that were judged to be dangerous after the March 2011 powerful earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan. The prefecture has completed the checks for a total of some 47,000 buildings in 18 municipalities by Sunday. In the January 1995 quake that heavily damaged Kobe, western Japan, and surrounding areas, the number of buildings rated dangerous came to 6,476. END