By Sakura Murakami and Tom BatemanSUZU, Japan (Reuters) - A month on from a huge earthquake that struck Japan's west coast, survivors are battling freezing and unsanitary conditions while tens of thousands of homes remain without running water. More than 230 people died in the magnitude 7.6 quake, Japan's deadliest in eight years, which also left 44,000 homes fully or partially destroyed while 40,000 have no running water. More than 13,000 residents are living in evacuation centres, according to the Ishikawa government. Bitter cold is also posing a challenge, especially for scores of residents who are sleeping in their cars after their homes were wrecked. Over 900 deaths from the devastating Kobe earthquake of 1995 happened after the quake, due in part to the spread of flu and lack of medical care at evacuation centres, according to public health experts.

---

Persons: Sakura Murakami, Tom Bateman SUZU, Yoshio Binsaki, Ishikawa, Chisa, Terashita, Tom Bateman, Edmund Klamann Locations: Japan, Ishikawa prefecture, Suzu, Kobe