Across the nation, 20.5% of municipalities have no officials exclusively tasked with handling disaster responses, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan.
The survey also found that 14.1% of respondents have only one official for that particular responsibility, with those in charge of elections, traffic safety and other duties doubling in such roles.
The results underscored the need for local governments — despite a chronic staff shortage at their offices — to build a system to more effectively respond to calamities in the disaster-prone country.