Much of Hokkaido's population is well on its way to recovering from the earthshaking quake that struck the northern Japanese island last Thursday. But as CGTN's Barnaby Lo reports, the prefecture's hardest-hit communities are still reeling, and for many, the threat of hunger still looms.

It's only been a few days since a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido, but its capital, Sapporo, is back to its bustling self. Enter groceries, however, and it becomes a different story. Food continues to be in short supply.

VOLUNTEER "Maybe food isn't sufficient yet in this area, but water's back. We are also supplying food to the hard-hit town of Atsuma."

Volunteers like these men are filling some of the gap, especially for those whose properties have been deemed structurally unsafe. Kiyota is the only district in Sapporo to suffer significant damages.

BARNABY LO SAPPORO "So government engineers have been to this community to check the structural integrity of houses, and the green one, the green one here on the door means that this house is still safe to live in, a hundred percent. Now, over there, if you can see these two houses. That one has a yellow sign on the window, it means that the house is moderately damaged. It's unsafe, but people can still live in that house. While over here, there's a red sign on the door with Chinese characters that say "danger", it means that this house is totally unsafe to live in."

Shoko Nakagawa showed us cracks the earthquake had made around her house. The verdict, a red warning. But with renovations to the house made just two years ago, she says making a decision to leave can be harder than it seems.

SHOKO NAKAGAWA QUAKE SURVIVOR "I have no idea what to do. We might have to relocate, but if we can stay here, we'd like to keep the house."

So, for now, they stay safe but close to home. They make a little sacrifice by sleeping in their vehicle at night. Barnaby Lo, CGTN, Sapporo, Japan.