Major Tokyo Quake might Kill Up to 6,100

Up to some 6,100 people would be killed in Tokyo in a possible powerful earthquake occurring directly under the southern part of the heart of the Japanese capital, the Tokyo metropolitan government said Wednesday.

If a 7.3-magnitude temblor strikes, 194,400 buildings in Tokyo would be damaged by the quake or subsequent fires, the metropolitan government also said.

The estimated number of fatalities is down by roughly 3,500 from the Tokyo government’s previous forecast made in 2012. The projected figure for buildings damaged is down by some 109,900, thanks partly to progress in work to make more houses quake- and fire-resistant.

The revised estimates were adopted at the day’s meeting of the metropolitan government’s disaster management task force, headed by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

“Based on the estimated damage, the metropolitan government will make full efforts for disaster mitigation,” Koike said at the meeting. The Tokyo government will consider measures to further reduce earthquake damage and revise its disaster management plans, aiming to release a draft as early as January next year and formalize it in early fiscal 2023.