Four prefectures heavily affected by Monday's earthquake have applied for government financial support for their rescue and recovery efforts.

Ishikawa, Niigata, Toyama and Fukui prefectures have requested support for 47 municipalities under the Disaster Relief Act. It means the government and the prefectures will share the costs of providing immediate support to disaster victims. This includes the cost of rescuing people, preparing shelters, providing daily necessities and repairing heavily damaged homes. The government will cover 50 to 90 percent of these expenses.

In another move, Japan's health ministry has instructed hospitals to offer health insurance coverage to patients affected by the quake even if they cannot show their insurance certificates.

The ministry sent the notification to medical institutions across Japan.

The instruction urges health workers to confirm patients' personal information, including their names, addresses and birth dates before giving diagnosis or treatment.