Japan government approves plan to more than halve Tokyo area quake deaths

Japan's government has approved a revised plan to prepare for a major earthquake centered on the greater Tokyo area. The plan includes a 10-year program intended to reduce the estimated 18,000 death toll from such a disaster to half or less.

The decision came at a Cabinet meeting on Friday on the steps to be achieved by the year ending March 2036. The goal is to cut structural damage to half or less. Such a disaster could flatten or burn 402,000 buildings, according to current estimates.

The plan includes efforts to prevent fires, which are currently expected to cause roughly 70 percent of both fatalities and destroyed buildings.

One measure involves installing quake-sensitive circuit breakers that automatically cut electricity when a tremor is detected.

The plan aims at installing the devices in most buildings in densely built-up areas, especially those in all municipalities of Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, as well as in buildings in designated parts of six other prefectures.

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