With the annual Sept. 1 Disaster Prevention Day approaching, residents in Japan will be reminded of a simple fact: They are living in a country where earthquakes are a fact of life.
The reminder is timely. A recent Japan Times online poll showed that only 14 percent of respondents have already set aside a survival kit and know where their local evacuation area is. Of the remaining 86 percent, more than half have done nothing to prepare themselves in the event that the big one finally hits.
Disaster Prevention Day was established in remembrance of the Great Kanto Earthquake of Sept. 1, 1923, at magnitude 7.9 the biggest quake ever known to have struck the Kanto region. More than 100,000 people were killed in the quake and subsequent fires.