Checks of Concrete Block Walls Urged after Osaka Quake

June 22, 2018

Tokyo- The land ministry on Thursday called on individuals, firms and others to check concrete block walls at their houses or facilities, in the wake of Monday's powerful earthquake that mainly hit northern areas of the western Japan prefecture of Osaka.

Under the instructions, made through a directive issued to local governments, the ministry called for checks of the heights and other aspects of such walls, including possible cracks and tilting.

For walls found to be dangerous, the owners are asked to display signs alerting passersby, or repair or remove them. They are also asked to consult with architects if problems are seen.

In the 6.1-magnitude earthquake, a nine-year-old girl died after being trapped under a collapsed outer concrete block wall of the swimming pool facility at an elementary school in the city of Takatsuki, Osaka, where the temblor measured lower 6, the third-highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale.

The wall was 3.5 meters high, above the upper limit of 2.2 meters set by the building standards law. Jiji Press