TOKYO, May 29 – The Japanese government will aim to step up measures over the next 10 years to minimize deaths in the event of a massive earthquake in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including wider use of seismic breakers to prevent fires, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.
In the first amendment of its emergency plans since 2015, the government will alter its goal from “around halving” to “more than halving” the estimated death toll, currently up to 18,000, by enhancing fire safety measures. The proposal is set to be approved by the Cabinet as early as June.
The plans, a summary of measures to be taken by the government and municipalities in the event of a massive temblor directly beneath Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, are based on assumptions that many casualties will be caused by fires in the aftermath of the earthquake.
The revision will include reinforcing more buildings and further promoting installation of earthquake-sensitive circuit breakers, which automatically stop electricity and prevent short circuits when they detect quakes.
The plans will call for the device’s installation in “most” structures. Currently, roughly 20 percent of structures have such breakers installed in Tokyo and nine nearby prefectures subject to the plans.
Some studies say that such breakers could significantly reduce the number of buildings destroyed by fire in the event of a massive quake.
With the enhanced fire prevention and reinforcement measures over the next decade, the government will aim to more than halve the number of buildings estimated to be destroyed by quake or fire from the currently projected 400,000 structures.
The strategy will also stress the need to prevent disaster-related deaths such as those caused by health deterioration during evacuation, an issue highlighted in the aftermath of the magnitude-9.0 temblor that hit northeast Japan in 2011. It will call for municipal efforts to stockpile enough toilets and beds that meet international standards.
Other actions will include urging people to secure furniture from falling and stock at least three days’ worth of food and water.
The government will additionally endeavor to raise awareness to prevent the spread of false information on social media, urge people to evacuate to areas outside of metropolitan Tokyo and ask local governments to create guidelines that will designate hotels and inns as emergency shelters.
