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The Japanese government on Tuesday agreed on quantifiable means of heightening the nation's disaster preparedness, spanning increasing the number of earthquake- resistant homes and buildings, to boosting the number of emergency services deployable in disaster situations.
According to local media reports, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed his ministers to "powerfully promote related measures both in terms of hardware and software."
In its newly-unveiled plan, the government said it intends to enhance the resilience of Tokyo to disasters, ahead of the major metropolitan city hosting the summer Olympics in 2020.
Other aspects of the plan highlight the government's goal of raising the ratio of earthquake-resistant homes from around 80 percent in 2008, to 95 percent by 2020, and eradicate high-risk fire areas, such as those where old wooden houses have been constructed closely packed together.
The number of Emergency Fire Response Teams -- first emergency responders deployed across Japan to disaster-hit regions -- will also be increased, the government said, from 4,600 personnel in 2013 to 6,000 by the end of 2018.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Emergency Fire Response Teams "were formed for the purpose of operating beyond prefectural borders as reinforcements in the activity to control an extensive-area disaster, such as a large-scale earthquake, an extraordinary disaster or a terrorist attack."
