OSAKA -- When the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck in January 1995, it sent shivers down the spines of many living in old wooden homes nationwide because most of the 6,432 people killed in the temblor were found in similar structures, which had collapsed. Public interest in whether such houses and buildings could withstand strong quakes soared, and the central and local governments subsidized tests on the structural strength of houses and provided low-interest loans for renovation work.

People sift through the rubble of a house in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, destroyed in the January 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.

However, many residents of such old houses remain hesitant to renovate, citing the huge cost. It is estimated that 14 million houses nationwide do not live up to the government's quake tolerance standards, updated in 1981.

Last December, work began on the 27-year-old house of Taeko Kasai, 66, to make it more quake-resistant. She lives in the two-story wooden house, located in a residential area in southwest Yokohama, with her husband and son.

A wall is being installed in the middle of the main 15-mat living and dining room, which the construction company said will make the entire house more resistant to horizontal temblors.

The wall will undermine the spacious atmosphere of the room, but Kasai said it is necessary "if it eliminates the risk of the house's collapse in an earthquake."

Her house sits on a slope made flat by additional mounds of soil. Despite ground fortification work done several years ago, "the house was shaken badly each time a quake hit, and I was worried that it could collapse," she said.

In 1999, Kasai learned the city was offering free quake-tolerance tests for wooden houses. She quickly applied for the test and was shocked by the results.

The house was labeled "dangerous," the lowest safety grade, which meant in an earthquake there was a high risk of collapse.

A support wall is installed in Taeko Kasai's living room to make her 27-year-old wooden house in Yokohama more resistant to severe earthquakes.

It still took her more than a year to decide to renovate. The city sent her letters asking if she had taken any countermeasures, and informing her public subsidies were available for her to do so.

Three new walls will be installed in the house, while diagonal beams will be added to existing walls in six areas to make them stronger against quakes. About 1.3 million yen of the 4 million yen cost of the work will be covered by subsidies from the city, and Kasai plans to spend her husband's retirement allowance for the rest.

"Once I considered moving out and buying a condominium, but I like this old house. Now I'm relieved I can live here the rest of my life," Kasai said.

Hyogo Prefecture, hardest hit in the 1995 quake, last year began offering free quake-tolerance tests for houses there.

The prefecture covers 25 percent of the cost, the municipality another 25 percent and the central government accounts for the rest.

After it began accepting applications in September, tests were performed on more than 6,000 houses until the end of December.

The prefecture plans to test some 35,000 houses by 2002, only a small portion of some 780,000 houses built in the prefecture before the 1981 quake-tolerance standard was introduced.

The bigger problem is that even if the houses are diagnosed as "dangerous," the prefecture lacks a system of public support to cover the cost of renovation work. An official of the prefecture said that is an "issue to be discussed in the future."

Currently, Yokohama's subsidy system is said to be the most advanced in the nation. In 1999, the city launched a program that offers one-third of the expense, or up to 2 million yen, for repairing wooden houses to make them more resistant to quakes. Its free quake-tolerance tests began in 1995.

As of November, 7,800 houses had been tested. One-third of these were found to be in dangerous condition, but only 85 households began renovations despite the subsidies.

According to the city, the average cost of such work reached 5.2 million yen. Even with the subsidies, a homeowner would have to pay 3.5 million yen to make a house quake-resistant.

"Subsidies from the central government will ease the citizens' burden and will encourage more of them to renovate their houses," said Yasutani Oharu, chief of the city's housing section. But an official of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry was skeptical, saying it will be difficult to inject public money into improving private assets.

An industry group of carpenters and housing builders said government efforts alone will not change the situation.

Mokutaikyo, an association of builders that renovates wooden houses for quake resistance, was launched in 1998 and currently has 340 members nationwide.

Officials of the group said its members are proposing low-cost housing renovation that will secure the minimum but sufficient quake-tolerance to save lives and property.

They will ensure that at least the first floor of old wooden houses will not collapse in even a severe earthquake, and offer additional work depending on the budget and desires of the customers, the officials said. They will try to cut costs by simplifying the building methods.

According to the officials, the average cost of 4,500 renovations done by members of the association was 1.07 million yen-- far below the average cost of publicly subsidized work done in Yokohama.

Ken Nishio, secretary general of the association, said local governments tend to propose complete but costly renovations, making homeowners hesitant.

"Renovation work will become expensive if you care a lot about appearances and strength of parts, but how far you would go should be left to the homeowners themselves," Nishio said, adding that the association's survey showed that a majority of wooden-house owners contemplating renovation want to keep the cost below 1 million yen.