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The 15th Meeting of the Central Disaster Prevention Council Tuesday, September 27, 2005 JAPANESE The General Principles Relating to Countermeasures for Earthquakes Directly Blow the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and others were decided at the 15th Meeting of the Central Disaster Prevention Council which was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. Of all earthquakes that may hit the Tokyo metropolitan area, this General Principles were compiled based on a worst case scenario of an earthquake hitting the northern Tokyo Bay area and striking the city center with a quake of seismic intensity 6 Upper, causing an economic damage of 120 trillion yen. As such, the General Principles request each organization that plays a central role in the politics, administration and economy of the capital city including the Diet, central ministries and agencies, Bank of Japan to ensure that they can continue functioning for about three days even at such times of disaster in order to implement emergency measures to prevent the damage from further spreading. In addition, the Policy on Emergency Measures to Ensure Earthquake-proofing of Building, which places the measures to prevent buildings from collapsing, to prevent windowpanes, ceilings or bill boards from falling and to prevent people from being trapped in elevators, among others as its pillars, was decided upon in an effort to decrease the number of people who will suffer from or lose their lives to the earthquake. In closing the meeting, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi remarked, "I understand it is difficult to prepare for something that is hard to believe will ever happen but I still would like to ask for your cooperation and support in this respect."