Japan to Conduct Emergency Infrastructure Checks

September 10, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that his government will carry out emergency inspections of power and transportation infrastructure across the country in the wake of a series of major natural disasters.

The prime minister also said he is considering a three-year intensive program designed to make the country's infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters.

"Emergency inspections will be conducted across the country as part of efforts to keep lifelines alive in the event of various natural disasters," Abe said in a policy speech for the upcoming presidential election of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Electricity supplies were halted across the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido at one point due to a powerful earthquake on Thursday.

Also last week, Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture was shut down for days as it was flooded by Typhoon Jebi that mainly hit western Japan on Tuesday.

In the speech, Abe said his government will take all possible measures to help people affected by the Hokkaido earthquake to return to their normal lives. Jiji Press