Japan eyes 80% cut in 298,000 death toll for potential megaquake in Nankai Trough
This Week in Asia Politics Published: 7:08pm, 11 Jun 2025 Japan is seeking to reduce by 80 per cent in the next decade its estimated 298,000 death toll from a potential megaquake in the Nankai Trough.
Authorities also intend to halve the maximum number of buildings expected to be completely destroyed in such a disaster from the current projection of 2.35 million.
The targets align with a 2104 basic blueprint but will also take into account the latest damage estimates released in March, according to the Kyodo news agency. A revised plan for emergency earthquake response and disaster mitigation for the next 10 years is also in the works.
The draft was approved at a ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel meeting on Tuesday and is expected to be adopted by the government's Central Disaster Management Council in early July.
02:40
Japan's 'megaquake' warning: what is it and how to prepare Japan's 'megaquake' warning: what is it and how to prepare The earthquake task force's revised estimate showed only a 20 per cent reduction in 2014's projected death toll of 332,000 and 2.5 million destroyed buildings, The Japan Times newspaper reported.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
19 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Should the Philippines worry about Chinese carrier group crossing first-island chain?
The crossing of a US-designated island chain in the Western Pacific by a Chinese carrier group marks an increase in Beijing's 'operational tempo' that the Philippines should pay heed to, observers say. Advertisement They warn, however, that a 'delicate balance' should still be maintained to avoid any escalation amid calls for vigilance. Regional governments such as Japan and Taiwan have advised increased caution, and a former official in the Joe Biden administration has suggested formalising the so-called Squad bloc of nations meant to counter Chinese assertiveness. Earlier this week, the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Navy dispatched two aircraft carriers to conduct operations beyond the ' first-island chain '. This series of land masses, part of a US containment strategy to deter Chinese military presence, stretches from Japan's Okinawa to Taiwan and the Philippines. The carriers were deployed to test capabilities in 'far seas defence', PLA Navy spokesman Senior Captain Wang Xuemeng confirmed on Tuesday as the Chinese continued to share photos online of aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong. Advertisement Wang said the routine training was organised 'in accordance with the annual plan' and the deployments were in compliance 'with relevant international laws and practices and not directed against any specific country or target'.
South China Morning Post
21 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Japan police ramp up security to tackle ‘lone wolf' attacks ahead of Tokyo election
As campaigning began on Friday for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, Japanese police have stepped up measures to thwart possible 'lone wolf' attacks after incidents involving notable politicians in recent years. Top politicians are set to converge on the Japanese capital for a close contest seen as a bellwether for the national House of Councillors election this summer, in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to struggle. 'We are mobilising the organisation's full strength. We cannot create conditions that allow for the 'unexpected',' a senior official of the Metropolitan Police Department said. Stump speeches are a mainstay of Japanese elections, offering candidates a chance to get their message across and granting voters opportunities to meet their potential representatives. Politicians have been targeted while campaigning in recent years, with former prime minister Shinzo Abe fatally shot during a stump speech in the city of Nara before the 2022 House of Councillors election. During an election-related appearance in Wakayama, also in western Japan, in 2023, an explosive device was hurled toward then-prime minister Fumio Kishida
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Japan warns of collision risks after Chinese fighter jet's ‘abnormal approaches'
Japan has expressed serious concerns to Beijing through diplomatic and defence channels after a Chinese fighter jet from the aircraft carrier Shandong made 'abnormal approaches' to a Japanese patrol aircraft over the Pacific Ocean. In a statement, Tokyo's defence ministry said a J-15 fighter shadowed its P-3C patrol aircraft operating over the Pacific for about 40 minutes from 10.30am on Saturday and again for around 80 minutes from 2pm on Sunday. The ministry said the Chinese fighter approached close to a horizontal distance of about 45 metres with no altitude difference and, in another manoeuvre on Sunday, 'crossed approximately 900 metres ahead of the patrol aircraft's course, with no altitude difference'. The ministry also published images of the Chinese aircraft holding a position just off the P-3C's port and starboard wings. 'Such unusual approaches by Chinese military aircraft could lead to an accidental collision,' the ministry said in the statement, calling on Beijing to take steps against a repeat of such an incident. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, however, said at a press conference on Thursday that the country's military activities 'fully comply with international law and practices'. He insisted Japanese 'close-in reconnaissance activities' of China's 'normal' operations were 'the root cause of maritime and air security risks', according to Kyodo.
