Marking the 100th anniversary of the Great Kanto Quake, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has staged a televised earthquake disaster drill, according to an article on ABC News. This drill was designed to simulate a magnitude 7.3 quake in central Tokyo and started at 7:00 AM. Involving both the Prime Minister and his Cabinet members, the drill also engaged people and cities across the nation, including a discussion of initial responses with Sagamihara city, which was the center of the 1923 Great Kanto Quake.
Says Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokaza Matsuno, “We will not let the memories of the Great Kanto Quake weather away and (will) do our utmost to take comprehensive measures,” while pointing to the importance of improving resilience of buildings to both quakes and fires.
Located on the Pacific “ring of fire”, Japan remains one of the most quake-prone countries in the world, with major quakes being regular events. The 7.9 magnitude Great Kanto Quake on September 1, 1923, resulted in over 100,000 deaths and the loss of 300,000 homes, largely due to the resulting fires, and the 9.0 magnitude Tohoku earthquake on March 11, 2011, resulted in more than 18,000 deaths and a nuclear disaster.
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