The government’s Central Disaster Management Council announced on December 19 the estimation of the damage caused by the Tokyo Inland Earthquake and the countermeasures of the damage mitigation. The worst-case scenario is that Magnitude-7 class inland earthquakes beneath the capital, which are predicted to occur at 70% provability in next 30 years, would kill 23,000 people in the Metropolitan region including Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba Prefecture due to building collapse and fire. The economic loss is estimated at 95 trillion yen at most. The council demands the government will accelerate the prior disaster prevention and secure the core function of the administration. (2013/12/20)