Fire hazards lurk in Tokyo's neighbourhoods

[TOKYO] Strolling around the Senju-Yanagicho district of Adachi Ward, Tokyo, which is densely packed with wooden houses, one can sense that warnings of an inferno erupting if a major earthquake strikes Tokyo are no exaggeration.

The narrow streets dividing each block are five to six metres wide, barely enough for cars to pass in this district near JR Kita-Senju Station.

The Tokyo metropolitan government has judged this area to have the highest risk of fire after an earthquake.

On Dec 19, the Central Disaster Management Council released a report on estimated damage and casualties under the assumption of a major earthquake in Tokyo, saying that fires would be the biggest factor in the death toll.

Fires could break out at as many as 2,000 houses, factories and other buildings, destroying as many as 430,000 structures and killing 16,000 people, the report said.…