The government plans to set a target of reducing the expected death toll from a possible megaquake in the Nankai Trough off the country’s Pacific coast by 80% in the next 10 years from its recent estimate of up to 298,000 deaths, sources said Tuesday.
The target will be included in a new basic plan for promoting disaster prevention measures, which is expected to be adopted by the government’s Central Disaster Management Council in early July.
The government will also aim to halve the expected number of burned and destroyed buildings in the possible megaquake, currently estimated to be up to 2.35 million.
The basic plan lists emergency earthquake response measures and disaster mitigation targets for the next 10 years.
The government is now working to update the existing plan based on damage estimates released in March. The new plan is expected to call for intensive efforts to develop evacuation shelters and stockpile emergency supplies to prevent earthquake-related deaths from indirect causes.
The current basic plan, adopted in fiscal 2014, has the same 10-year targets for reducing the expected death toll and building damage. However, it was revealed in March that both estimates had only been reduced by 20%.
