Facing the danger of massive quakes and related tsunamis that are expected to strike the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Pacific coastal areas of Honshu and Shikoku, the government plans to submit bills to prepare for these disasters to the current Diet session.
Damage from the expected disasters will be much larger than that from the 3/11 quake and tsunami. A government panel said in August 2012 that a massive tsunami from a quake in the Nankai Trough, a 900-km subduction zone off the Pacific coasts stretching from Shizuoka Prefecture to Shikoku, would kill up to 323,000 people and destroy up to 2.39 million buildings. The central and local governments should quickly scrutinize their preparations for future massive disasters and do what they can to improve them.
One of the bills would require the central government to set up reconstruction headquarters and work out a basic outline of reconstruction so that local governments concerned can quickly carry out recovery projects. Under the bill, the central government would also promptly begin temporary rehabilitation projects immediately after the occurrence of a disaster on behalf of local governments. The bill would incorporate various measures taken on the basis of laws following the 3/11 disasters.