Hospital staff who experienced major earthquakes eight years ago in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto have volunteered to help provide hot meals to their counterparts in a quake-hit city on the Noto Peninsula.

Workers at Keiju Medical Center in Nanao City in Ishikawa Prefecture have been overwhelmed by an increasing number of patients, including those who have contracted the COVID-19 virus at shelters. The hospital is short-handed as some of its staff have also been affected by the quake.

Twelve people from Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto City arrived in Ishikawa on Thursday with foodstuff for about 300 people.

On Friday at the medical center's parking lot, they served the medical staff and nearby residents with grilled meat as well as miso soup with pork.

The head of the medical center said that some of its employees come to work from shelters and all have been working incredibly hard since the quake. He said he is grateful for the help from the Kumamoto staff.

One woman in her 70s who lives near the medical center said she has eaten only ready-to-eat meals as she is now afraid of cooking on open flame. She said she was moved almost to tears to eat grilled meat after a long time.

The Kumamoto hospital staff said that after the 2016 quakes, they had to stay at the hospital for about two weeks and hardly had time to eat. They added that they wanted to encourage people by serving them hot meals.