Less than half of Japanese prepared for disasters: survey

April 9, 2019

Tokyo--Less than 50 pct of Japanese are prepared for large-scale natural disasters, a private-sector survey has shown.

The proportion of respondents who know the locations of facilities that would be used as shelters in times of disaster came to 48.1 pct, and that of respondents who stockpile food and daily necessities for use in emergency stood at 47.2 pct, according to the survey by market research company Macromill Inc. <3978>.

Meanwhile, 39.5 pct have bought insurance against disasters, 28.7 pct carry mobile batteries with them and 26.9 pct have taken measures to prevent furniture and consumer electronics from turning over.

The survey, conducted online on Jan. 29-30, covered 1,000 people aged between 20 and 69 across the country.

Under the government's basic disaster prevention plan, households are advised to stockpile food for at least three days, and if possible, for seven days. Jiji Press