In the 21st Century, it has been announced that several earthquakes will occur beneath Tokyo Capital Region. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government implements two kinds of hazard assessments for countermeasures against the earthquake disasters. One is the disaster damage estimation for Tokyo and a disaster scenario for Earthquake that occurres just beneath Cental Tokyo. According to the Report published in 1997, approximately 378, 000 buildings will be burnt down, 43, 000 buildings will be demolished, 7, 200 people will be killed. A disturbance of the water supply will continue for one month and the interruption of piped gas will continue for two months, more than two million people will be evacuated to shelters located mainly in public schools. The other assessment concerns research on the vulnerability of built-up areas against earthquakes measured according to each community area. According to the area vulnerability research, the most vulnerable areas are located as a ring-zone around the CBD and as a finger-zone along Japan Railway's Chuo-line from central Tokyo to the west suburban region (Pictorial 4-1). These zones are made up wooden houses in crowded areas without city planning nor building permission.
TMG learned much from the Kobe Earthquake of 1995 and has enlarged earthquake countermeasures to make Tokyo an earthquake-resistant city and to secure effective disaster countermeasures, quick recovery and reconstruction to protest the livelihood of the populace, and to ensure urban redevelopment. The most important measure is the Promotion Plan for Earthquake-resistant City Development Projects, because the implementation of such projects can reduce the damage in Tokyo (Pictorial 4-2). The Preparedness Plan for Urban Reconstruction is one of the new measures that was established after the Kobe Earthquake.
