Toshizo Ido made the comment while at a meeting of governors. From Reuters-
A Japanese governor has come under fire for comments appearing to suggest that a huge earthquake in Tokyo would be an opportunity for western Japan to boost its economy.A better choice of words would have been wiser if just to avoid people blowing what you said out of proportion.Toshizo Ido, governor of Hyogo prefecture -- where 6,400 people were killed by a 7.3 magnitude quake in 1995 -- made the remark at a meeting of governors from western Japan Tuesday.
"If there were a big earthquake in Kanto (eastern Japan), Tokyo would suffer great damage. This would be a chance, and we should take advantage of it," media reports quoted Ido as saying.
A government panel has estimated that a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hitting Tokyo Bay would probably kill up to 11,000 people and leave 7 million people homeless. Estimates of economic damage have topped more than $1 trillion (647 billion pounds).
Ido later said he was referring to the concentration of economic activity in Tokyo, whose more than 12 million residents make up about a 10th of Japan's population, and meant backup elsewhere was vital to be ready for a quake in the capital.
"I should have used a different word," he told reporters.
Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. The 1995 quake, Japan's worst in more than 50 years, devastated the western port city of Kobe and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage.
In 1923 a magnitude 7.9 quake hit the Tokyo area killing more than 140,000 people.
Permalink | Send To A Friend | Linking Blogs | Digg this!
Filed under:
Asia, World Politics
