Japanese plan could save thousands of lives in next major quake: report

TERRA.WIRE

Japanese plan could save thousands of lives in next major quake: report
TOKYO (AFP) Mar 27, 2005
Japan is planning to increase its number of quake-resistant homes in the coming decade and thereby save thousands of lives when the next major earthquake hits, a report said Sunday.

The government plan would slash the number of people expected to be killed in a quake of around 8.0 on the Richter scale in central Japan's Tokai region from a forecast 9,200 to 4,500, Kyodo news agency reported.

The plan calls for bolstering the percentage of new or refurbished quake-resistant houses to 90 percent nationwide by 2014. The current proportion is around 75 percent.

It is the first time the Japanese government has set goals for cutting the number of forecast deaths and damage in a major quake, it added.

Government officials were not available to comment on the report.

The plan addresses three potential quakes off the Pacific coast in central and western Japan: Tokai quake off Shizuoka Prefecture; Tonankai quake off Mie Prefecture and Nankai quake off Shikoku.

The Tokai quake is predicted to have a magnitude of around 8.0 on the Richter scale.

Another Tokai quake-related goal is to reduce the resultant property damage to 19 trillion yen (180 billion dollars) from the 37 trillion yen currently predicted, Kyodo said.

The government's strategy also addresses the possibility that the expected Tonankai and Nankai quakes may happen at the same time and calls for reducing the predicted number of deaths to 9,100 from the current projection of 17,800, Kyodo said.

The plan calls for cutting property and economic damage from the Tonankai and Nankai quakes to 31 trillion yen from 57 trillion yen under the current projection.

The Central Disaster Prevention Council is expected to adopt the plan in a meeting Wednesday. The council, led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is the government's key panel on natural disasters.

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