A program is currently providing support for people on Japan's Noto Peninsula still suffering after a devastating earthquake on New Year's Day. It draws on lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

An estimated more than 4,700 quake-affected residents in Ishikawa Prefecture continue to live in their damaged homes instead of moving to designated shelters. But the true figure is believed to be much higher.

Various efforts are underway to assist these residents.

Abe Tomoyuki is from Japan's northeastern city of Morioka.

He is tapping his experiences as a life counselor at a reconstruction support center set up after the 2011 quake.

He thinks that offering support in the form of food will help reveal exactly how quake-affected residents are coping with living in their damaged homes.

Abe says it is necessary to respect the dignity of each person and meet their needs, regardless of how much damage was done to their homes.

A research team from Tohoku University analyzed medical records of more than 8,000 survivors of the 2011 quake. Data showed that people in evacuation centers were able to receive treatment in about 13 days, on average.

But people who stayed in their homes could not receive proper treatment for an average of about 19 days.

That's because authorities needed more time to identify their needs.

An expert on providing aid to disaster victims points out that current disaster relief measures are focused on people in evacuation centers, while not taking into account those who remain in their homes.

Osaka Metropolitan University associate professor Sugano Taku says there needs to be an organized system that would identify the needs of survivors, and sort out how much support is coming in from all over the country.

Sugano says it's too much to ask local municipalities that are affected by disasters to be aware of all the health conditions and related problems of all disaster victims.