The National Police Agency unveiled a plan Thursday to ban road traffic on a total of 52 expressway, highway and other routes if a 7.0-magnitude earthquake strikes Tokyo and its vicinity.
Restricting road traffic would secure the passage of vehicles operated by police forces, fire departments and the Self-Defense Forces, as well as vehicles carrying relief goods or personnel, according to the agency's plan.
In addition to Tokyo, the ban would apply to 10 other prefectures — Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka and Aichi — and in total would cover about 1,770 km of tarmac.