Monday, March 21, 2005

PRECAUTION AGAINST EARTHQUAKES

▼ After all, it would be better to consider that a big earthquake happens at any place in this country. A strong earthquake that jolted northern Kyushu area on Sunday morning worried me about it all the more. The focus of the quake was below the seabed of the Genkai-nada Ocean off the shore of Fukuoka Prefecture, where quakes have rarely occurred up to today.

▼ In the island of Nokono-shima that commands the view of Genkai-nada, writer Dan Kazuo spent his later years. There is a stone monument engraved with a phrase of his last work on the hill of the island. A golden seal designated as a national treasure was unearthed on the island of Shikano-shima located next to Nokono-shima. The seal was handed to the then ruler of Japan from the emperor of China nearly 2,000 years ago.

▼ Some of those islands full of romantic stories in ancient and maritime history suffered terrible damages and many houses were toppled down. Probably they were close to the focus and trembled more violently than the rest. Immediate relief activities are expected for them.

▼ Sunday’s quake made a direct hit on the million city for the first time in ten years after the Hanshin Great Earthquake. Luckily it was not resulted in a record calamity, but fragility of a modern city was unveiled. Many windowpanes were broken down from a high-rise building. Falling pieces of glass are likely to turn into deadly weapons and attack people on the ground. In recent years, modern glassy buildings are increasing in big cities. They should be rechecked against trembling together with conventional buildings.

▼ “Death toll is 13,000 and evacuees are 7 million,” was estimated damage reported by the Central Disaster Prevention Council of the government last month if Tokyo is hit by an inland earthquake. In the worst case, economic losses will amount to 112 trillion yen, which is far larger than the national budget.

▼ Whatever may be the case with Tokyo, the devastated areas should be reconstructed first of all, but vulnerable points disclosed by the quake should be examined closely in order to take precautions nationwide. An earthquake happens whether we forget it or not and whether we have experienced it or not.