Local News

Fukuoka City estimates that more than 190,000 residents would have trouble returning home if a large earthquake struck along the Kego Fault. About 62,000 of these people would be concentrated in the Tenjin and Hakata Station areas, and it projects approximately 38,000 shoppers and tourists could end up stranded without access to evacuation shelters. This was the City’s first attempt at issuing projections since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and it assumed a M7.2 temblor with an epicenter in the southeastern section of the Kego Fault. Estimates for stranded persons were issued for noon on a weekday (190,100), 6 PM on a weekday (135,400) and 6PM on a weekend (135,000). The Disaster Prevention & Crisis Management Section remarked: “Cooperation with local businesses is essential in the event that a large number of people are stranded in the city center; we will ask for their assistance in using conference rooms and lobbies as temporary shelters.” It intends to incorporate this idea into next year’s Disaster Prevention Plan. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 11/21