The government on Monday held a disaster drill under the assumption that a megaquake had occurred in the Nankai Trough off Japan's Pacific coast.
In the drill, an emergency disaster response headquarters headed by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was established. Holding a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, the headquarters confirmed the responses of each ministry and agency and received an online report on the situation in the affected areas from Shizuoka Gov. Yasutomo Suzuki.
After the 7.9 magnitude Great Kanto Earthquake occurred on Sept. 1, 1923, leaving more than 100,000 people dead or missing in Tokyo and surrounding areas, the government designated Sept. 1 as Disaster Prevention Day in 1960. It has since held an annual earthquake response drill on that day.
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