With the backing of the central government, the Tokyo metropolitan government held a comprehensive disaster prevention drill dubbed "Rescue Tokyo 2000" at 10 locations throughout the city. Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori took part in the drill as head of the Headquarters for Emergency Disaster Control. On the assumption that a major earthquake directly beneath the area of Tokyo's 23 wards had rendered the Prime Minister's Official Residence dysfunctional, a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers was convened in the underground Central Command Post of the Defense Agency. Here Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori conferred by video linkup with Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who was in the Tokyo Metropolitan Disaster Prevention Center. Altogether about 25,000 people, including some 7,100 Self-Defense Forces personnel, took part in the drill. The Prime Minister later commented, "This was the first drill conducted jointly by the central government and a local government, and I was impressed by the excellent cooperation achieved."