Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Disaster Prevention Day Drills for FY2009

Annual comprehensive disaster prevention drills were held on September 1, Japan's National Disaster Prevention Day.

This year, the drills were conducted jointly with eight municipalities in the Tokyo metropolitan area, with the scenario of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake (a maximum seismic intensity of 6 upper) occurring directly beneath Tokyo with the epicenter off the northern coast of Tokyo Bay.

The drills involved the operation of the government headquarters at the Prime Minister's Office, which is in charge of ensuring the implementation of emergency measures for earthquake disasters, among other tasks. In the drills, the members of an emergency team gathered at the Crisis Management Center. After the Chief Cabinet Secretary's press conference, an extraordinary Cabinet meeting took place, in which a decision was made to establish the Headquarters for Emergency Disaster Measures and the Local Headquarters for Emergency Disaster Measures. In the press conference that followed, Prime Minister Taro Aso announced the government's policy, the establishment of the Headquarters for Emergency Measures, and the message to the people. Then, a meeting of the Headquarters for Emergency Disaster Measures, comprised of all the Cabinet members, was convened. The Ministers received a report via teleconference on the extent of the damage from Mr. Masayoshi Namiki, Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Technology Policy, Food Safety, Social Affairs, Gender Equality, Disaster Management, at the Local Headquarters for Emergency Disaster Measures at a core wide-area disaster prevention base in the Ariake-no-Oka district in Koto Ward in Tokyo, and Mr. Takao Abe, Mayor of Kawasaki City, at the Headquarters for Disaster Measures in Kawasaki City.

Later, the Prime Minister led a government inspection team and arrived by an airplane of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) at the venue for the disaster prevention drills jointly conducted by eight municipalities, in Higashi Oogi Jima in Kawasaki City. There, the Prime Minister observed drills by a rescue team of organizations related to disaster prevention and emergency aid drills by local residents and junior high school students. In his address at the closing ceremony of the disaster prevention drills, Prime Minister Aso said, "I call upon the related organizations and people in local communities to jointly conduct practical drills for disaster prevention on a daily basis. I also call upon the people to be fully prepared for disasters."

After the observation, Prime Minister Aso said, "It is good to experience things in times of peace and put theories into action. The drills were conducted very well with everyone -- junior high school students, people in local communities, members of the SDF, people from the fire department, police, and municipal officials -- working as one. It was also good that the line of command was kept clear."