Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA) said it would install around 1,000 security cameras to prevent burglaries and other crimes in the quake-hit areas in central Japan.

The NPA, as well as Ishikawa and other prefectural police forces, would contribute about 600 cameras, the local media reported on Friday.

Kyodo News reported that the agency planned to procure the remaining 400 using ¥135 million (about $915,000) from reserve funds in its fiscal 2023 budget.

The police had confirmed 32 criminal cases in the hardest-hit prefecture of Ishikawa as of Wednesday evening, including burglaries at evacuated homes and thefts in evacuation centres.

The police had already increased the number of security cameras in the cities of Wajima and Suzu.

The earthquake on New Year’s Day caused severe damage to several places, with magnitudes reaching up to 7.6.

In Ishikawa, 41,834 houses were damaged in the earthquake, while the number of evacuees has topped 14,000.

This is according to a prefectural tally released on Thursday. 

(Xinhua/NAN)