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Though the government issued a major tsunami warning, the waves turned out to be smaller than expected. Residents largely heeded calls to evacuate.
盡管政府發布了重大海嘯警報，但海浪規模卻比預期要小。居民基本上都聽從指令撤離。
Yet each earthquake in Japan is a lesson for future disasters. The remoteness of the Noto peninsula has complicated rescue and recovery efforts.
然而，日本的每一次地震都是未來災難的教訓。能登半島地處偏遠，救援和重建工作更為艱難。
Roads leading to Kanazawa, the regional capital, were destroyed, and for weeks after the quake a drive that had normally taken two hours took up to nine.
通往地區首府金澤的道路被毀，地震發生后的幾周內，原本只需兩小時的車程現在變成了九小時。
Ports were damaged, while bad winter weather grounded helicopters.
港口遭到破壞，惡劣的冬季天氣迫使直升機停飛。
The Noto peninsula is also at the edge of Japan's demographic transition.
能登半島也處于日本人口結構轉型的邊緣。
The region is one of the oldest, with nearly half of the population older than 65, compared with around 30% nationally.
該地區人口年齡較大，65歲以上人口近一半，而在全國這一比例約為30%。
Elderly residents are especially vulnerable during disasters. But it is not only Japan's population that is ageing—its infrastructure is, too.
老年居民在災害期間尤其容易受傷。但日本不僅人口老齡化，其基礎設施也在老齡化。
Water pipes laid during Japan's post-war boom are reaching the end of their useful lives, but utilities lack funds to invest in upgrades.
日本在戰后繁榮時期鋪設的水管即將達到使用壽命，但公用事業公司缺乏資金來投資更新。
Depopulation is eating into their profits. In Noto as many as 135,000 households were left without water. Flush toilets are still hard to come by.
人口減少正在蠶食他們的利潤。能登半島有多達13.5萬戶家庭斷水。抽水馬桶仍未普及。
Volunteers set up makeshift facilities. "People cried when they took baths for the first time," recalls Kamikawa Tetsuya of VNet, a non-profit. New technology may be able to help.
志愿者搭建臨時設施。“人們第一次洗澡時會哭，”非營利組織VNet的上川哲也（Kamikawa Tetsuya）回憶道。新技術也許能有所幫助。
At evacuation centres across the peninsula residents can wash using special sink and bath units that self-recycle water, courtesy of Wota, a Japanese startup that produces decentralised water-treatment infrastructure.
在半島各地的疏散中心，居民可以使用特殊的水槽和浴缸清洗，這些水槽和浴室可以自動循環水，這是由日本初創公司Wota提供的，Wota是一家生產分散式水處理基礎設施的公司。
Drones were deployed to help ferry supplies to hard-to-reach coastal communities. Digital ID cards have made it easier to track those in need—officials hope the disaster will encourage their use.
部署無人機以向難以到達的沿海社區運送物資。數字身份證讓追蹤有需要的人變得更加容易——官員們希望這場災難能夠鼓勵使用無人機和數字身份證。
"We want to make the region more resilient, not just lay more concrete," says Nishigaki Atsuko, vice-governor of Ishikawa prefecture, which includes the Noto peninsula.
石川縣（包括能登半島）副縣長西垣厚子（Nishigaki Atsuko）表示：“我們希望使該地區更具適應力，而不僅僅是鋪設更多混凝土。”
Yet the recovery is sure to be protracted. "It feels almost endless," one official in Wajima says. Merely clearing away debris is projected to take until early 2026;
然而，重建肯定是漫長的。“感覺幾乎遙遙無期，”輪島的一位官員說。僅僅清理殘骸預計就需要到2026年初才能完成；
the disaster waste is expected to amount to some 2.4m tonnes, equivalent to roughly seven years of the prefecture's rubbish.
災難廢物量預計約為240萬噸，相當于該縣大約7年的垃圾量。
Officials hope to have displaced people back at home within four years, but in reality it may take much longer, or not happen at all.
官員們希望流離失所的居民在四年內重返家園，其實可能需要更多時間，或者根本不可能。
The main long-term risk is accelerated population decline, reckons Karashima Yukari of the Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Centre, a non-profit:
非營利組織和平船救災志愿者中心的卡拉島由香里（Karashima Yukari）認為，主要的長期風險是人口加速下降：
"How many people will actually come back?" As Japan knows all too well, disasters continue long after the shaking stops.
“到底有多少人會回來？”日本非常清楚，地震停止后很長一段時間內災難仍會繼續。
