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On September 7, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting of the Ministerial Council on the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
The Prime Minister said in his opening address,
 
“In the wake of the devastating damages caused by the recent earthquake, we have further strengthened our efforts in the affected areas and, at this stage, rescue units with a total of approximately 40,000 personnel, including 24,000 Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel, are exerting all efforts to search for missing people on a 24-hour basis.
 
With regard to the power supply, we have mobilized power stations that can be operated, including not only those of Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Inc. (HEPCO) but also other power generation businesses, and taken all possible measures, including the cooperation of non-utility power generation of private companies in Hokkaido and power interchange from Honshu (the main island). As a result, we expect that, by the end of tomorrow, maximum power supply capacity of around 3.6 million kW will be secured and power will be restored across the whole of Hokkaido, with the exception of some areas which sustained damages to their power distribution facilities due to the earthquake.
 
Meanwhile, until Tomatoh-Atsuma Power Station, the largest thermal power station in Hokkaido, resumes operations, we will continue to see tight power supply that barely meets demand. Based on past experience, it is very probable for the power demand to swing upwards on the next weekday, the beginning of next week. On the supply side, there is also risks that the supply will decrease if problems occur at old thermal power stations. Under such circumstances, to maintain power supply to everyone in Hokkaido, the Government and HEPCO will continue to strive to further top up power supply. At the same time, we must ask the people of Hokkaido to conserve electricity as much as possible.
 
In order to prevent the recurrence of power outages after supply is restored, I would like to ask the relevant ministries and agencies to work as one to immediately compile effective measures.
 
With the restoration of power, water supply is also being restored in all places, and transportation infrastructure has begun to steadily resume service. Today, in addition to Hokkaido Shinkansen, the Rapid Airport express train, connecting Sapporo and New Chitose Airport, and other train services have been resumed. At New Chitose Airport, following the resumption of some domestic flights today, a majority of domestic flights are expected to resume tomorrow. In addition, all international flights are expected to resume from tomorrow morning. We will continue to strive to restore infrastructure as quickly as possible.
 
There still remain many people affected by the disaster who are forced to lead hard lives at evacuation centers and elsewhere. The Government will work resolutely to provide supports, led by the push-mode support coordination meeting comprised of relevant ministries and agencies that was established today. To ensure that adequate amounts of water and food reach all the affected people, the supplies that will be necessary in future, will be transported to the SDF Iruma Air Base by the end of today, and delivered to the repositories designated by local governments, by making use of the transportation capacities of the SDF. Furthermore, the SDF and police departments will coordinate to ensure that the supplies in Hokkaido reach evacuation centers, supermarkets, and other facilities across the prefecture with the cooperation of the trucking industry and other relevant organizations. I would like to ask everyone to continue to exert every effort on emergency response and recovery measures in the affected areas, in coordination with the affected municipalities and others and following through with the front-line approach.
 
Significant rainfall is expected in the affected areas through tomorrow morning. I would like to ask the people of Hokkaido to continue to be on alert and be mindful of taking actions to save your lives.”