The Japanese government has set its eyes on reducing the estimated toll and structural damage from an anticipated massive quake occurring in the Nankai Trough off the country's Pacific coast.
The government aims to reduce the possible human toll by approximately 80 per cent and keep structural damages below 50 percent.
The new damage estimates released in March this year revealed around 300,000 people could be killed and 2.35 million buildings destroyed in the worst-case scenario. The figures fall short of the disaster mitigation goals.
The government has now started looking for its basic plan on disaster preparedness measures, based on the new damage estimate.
Sources said the goals set in 2014 remain largely unchanged, with a roughly 80-percent cut in the death toll and a roughly 50-percent cut in structural damage to be attained over the next decade.
The government will also make homes more quake-resistant, promote the installation of quake-sensitive circuit breakers, and step up tangible disaster preparedness measures such as building embankments.
The basic plan of measures for a Nankai Trough megaquake is expected to be officially endorsed next month.
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Japan could lose as much as $1.81 trillion in the event of a long-anticipated megaquake off its Pacific coast, which could trigger devastating tsunamis, the collapse of hundreds of buildings and the potential killing of about 300,000 people, a government report said on Monday.
The expected economic damage of 270.3 trillion yen, or nearly half of the country's total gross domestic product (GDP), was up sharply from the previous estimate of 214.2 trillion yen as the new estimate accounted for inflationary pressures and updated terrain and ground data, which have expanded anticipated flood areas, the Cabinet Office report showed.
The danger is real and Japan is trying all possible methods to at least reduce the death toll and also the infrastructural damages with smart quake-resistant homes and buildings.
However, the Nankai megaquake could possibly trigger the biggest and most devastating which could inflict heavy losses compared to the 2011 Japanese Tsunami, experts warn.
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