Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Schoolchildren aged 12 to 14 participated in drills in preparation for a big earthquake on the 100th anniversary of the Great Tokyo Earthquake that killed over 140,000 people in 1923.

The students took turns trying out virtual reality headsets in a truck equipped with moving chairs that reproduced the effects of an earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity.

Another truck was able to increase simulated tremors from intensity 5 to 7 to help people understand the effects of the earthquake and to enable them to take emergency measures such as sheltering under tables to prevent being struck by falling objects.

Students at Higashi Murayama Middle School were made aware of how to help the injured by using crowbars and jacks to free a mannequin stuck under a piece of furniture.

To close the day, the students demonstrated their discipline under the control of teachers and representatives of the town hall by making human chains behind supply trucks with supplies of foodstuffs and essential products as they simulated moving the boxes to a civic center that serves as a disaster shelter.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimates that around 6,000 people would die if a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits under southern Tokyo.