Japan holds drills to prepare for big earthquake
By Channel NewsAsia's Japan Bureau Chief Michiyo Ishida | Posted: 28 November 2008 0054 hrs

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TOKYO : Experts said Tokyo has a 70 per cent chance of being hit by a major quake in the next few decades, so preparing for it is a major concern in the Japanese capital.

At a drill at Kogakuin University in Shinjuku, participants are required to go through a number of steps before they actually flee.

Teachers turn into emergency marshals, and some students are told to extinguish the blaze. Next, participants conduct checks to make sure that no one is left behind. The injured are also identified, and then tended to.

It seems like a long, drawn-out process, but rushing out is considered more dangerous than staying inside a quake-resistant building.

Evacuees are sent to higher floors, not to hide out but to continue working as a team.

Yoshiaka Hisada, Professor of Faculty of Engineering at Kogakuin University said: "Help each other and contact each other, and check information on transportation, whether it's good to try getting home or better to stay."

Students said the drill had some valuable lessons.

"It's not something I can often experience, so I was able to understand what kind of situation I'll be in," said one university student.

Another said: "I wasn't able to see my way, so that was tough. I also helped to carry the injured, but he was so heavy, so that was really tough too."

But some said the simulation has its limits.

"The reality is, there'll be so many things falling, creating lots of obstacles. So the scene will be very different, and you won't be able to move around easily as we did," said Kazuyoshi Endo, Professor of Department of Architecture at Kogakuin University.

On top of that, the university is near Japan's busiest train station, where some 3.5 million people pass through daily. So there is no ruling out that people may flood their premises for refuge. - CNA /ls