Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting of the Central Disaster Prevention Council at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting, decisions were made on the establishment of the Disaster Prevention Countermeasures Implementation Council and the FY2013 Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Drills Outline.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

"This will be the first meeting of the Central Disaster Prevention Council since we made a comeback in the government. Two years has passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and during this period there were also other disasters caused by typhoons and heavy rain. I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences and sympathy for those who lost their lives and those affected by the disaster.

A very severe estimate of damages that could result from a massive earthquake in the Nankai Trough was announced the other day. Based on what we have learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake, which is to 'leave nothing outside the scope of assumptions,' this estimate assumes from the crisis management perspective the 'maximum level of earthquake and tsunami by dealing with every possibility,' which may not occur even once every 1,000 years. I believe it is important that the people know the candid truth, and 'fear properly.'

Today, I expect an active discussion on the review of the legal system for disaster countermeasures based on what we have learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake, a report on the situation of countermeasures against a massive earthquake in the Nankai Trough and an inland earthquake hitting the Tokyo metropolitan area, the establishment of the Disaster Prevention Countermeasures Implementation Council, which is a conference to discuss disaster prevention measures beyond the borders of ministries and agencies and to bring measures into actual implementation, and the decision of the FY2013 Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Drills Outline."