Govt holds 1st triple-earthquake drill

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The government on Wednesday conducted a disaster drill under a scenario in which three massive simultaneous earthquakes struck a wide area along the Pacific coast in central Japan.

Wednesday's drill, the first under the triple-earthquake scenario, was among many similar exercises conducted nationwide, marking this year's Disaster Prevention Day.

Disaster Prevention Day, Sept. 1, was established to mark the anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake. The quake killed more than 100,000 people in the Kanto region on the date in 1923.

If the anticipated Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes happen at the same time, an estimated 25,000 people will be killed and 550,000 buildings completely destroyed over a wide area ranging from the Kanto region to Kyushu, according to a 2003 projection by the government's Central Disaster Prevention Council.

Experts said that the three powerful quakes have occurred together in the past and could do so again.

The government conducted the day's drill based on a scenario in which a magnitude-8.7 Tonankai earthquake centered in seas south of Wakayama Prefecture happened around 7 a.m. Almost simultaneously, massive Tokai and Nankai earthquakes also happened, registering 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie, Wakayama and other prefectures, according to the scenario.

As part of the simulation, the government held an emergency meeting of its disaster headquarters at 8:30 a.m. at the Prime Minister's Office, where Hiroshi Nakai, state minister in charge of disaster prevention, reported the situation to Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The prime minister then instructed Nakai to work on the disaster response jointly with local governments in the affected regions.

Damage caused by the earthquakes was reported to the headquarters via the disaster information system from Shizuoka, Kochi and Mie prefectures, where the government predicts more than 2,000 people would be killed.

The government said in January that the probability of the Tonankai earthquake, which is said likely to trigger the other two quakes, is 20 percent within 10 years and 60 to 70 percent within 30 years.

Apart from the government's drill, 670,000 people participated in disaster prevention drills in Tokyo and 34 prefectures around the country, the Cabinet Office said.