
-
'Incredible' Curry scores 52 as Warriors down Grizzlies, Bucks edge Suns
-
Asian markets edge up but uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
Nintendo's megahit Switch console: what to know
-
Nintendo to unveil upgrade to best-selling Switch console
-
China practises hitting key ports, energy sites in Taiwan drills
-
Oil, sand and speed: Saudi gearheads take on towering dunes
-
All eyes on Tsunoda at Japan GP after ruthless Red Bull move
-
'Image whisperers' bring vision to the blind at Red Cross museum
-
Hay shines as New Zealand make 292-8 in Pakistan ODI
-
Other governments 'weaponising' Trump language to attack NGOs: rights groups
-
UK imposes online entry permit on European visitors
-
How a Brazilian chief is staving off Amazon destruction
-
Meme politics: White House embraces aggressive alt-right online culture
-
China launches military drills in Taiwan Strait
-
US senator smashes record with 25-hour anti-Trump speech
-
Brazil binman finds newborn baby on garbage route
-
US senator smashes record with marathon anti-Trump speech
-
Trump advisor Waltz faces new pressure over Gmail usage
-
Niger junta frees ministers of overthrown government
-
Trump set to unleash 'Liberation Day' tariffs
-
Boeing chief to acknowledge 'serious missteps' at US Senate hearing
-
Real Madrid hold Real Sociedad in eight-goal thriller to reach Copa del Rey final
-
Nuno salutes 'special' Elanga after stunning strike fires Forest
-
PSG survive scare against Dunkerque to reach French Cup final
-
Sundowns edge Esperance as crowd violence mars quarter-final
-
Nottingham Forest beat Man Utd, Saka scores on Arsenal return
-
Elanga wonder-goal sinks Man Utd as Forest eye Champions League berth
-
Stock markets mostly advance ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
-
US movie theaters urge 45-day 'baseline' before films hit streaming
-
Saka scores on return as Arsenal beat Fulham
-
Third-division Bielefeld shock holders Leverkusen in German Cup
-
Ball-blasting 'Torpedo bats' making waves across MLB opening weekend
-
Newsmax shares surge more than 2,000% in days after IPO
-
Thousands of Hungarians protest against Pride ban law
-
GM leads first quarter US auto sales as tariffs loom
-
Tesla sales tumble in Europe in the first quarter
-
No 'eye for an eye' approach to US tariffs: Mexico
-
NFL club owners back dynamic kickoffs, delay tush push vote
-
Trump 'perfecting' new tariffs as nervous world braces
-
Trump nominee says to press UK on Israel arms
-
French court says Le Pen appeal ruling could come before presidential vote
-
The battle to control assets behind Bosnia crisis
-
Prabhsimran powers Punjab to IPL win over Lucknow
-
Mass layoffs targeting 10,000 jobs hit US health agencies
-
Tiger's April Foolishness: plan to play Masters just a joke
-
Myanmar quake toll passes 2,700, nation halts to honour victims
-
Turkish fans, artists urge Muse to cancel Istanbul gig
-
US seeks death penalty for accused killer of insurance CEO
-
UK govt moves to block sentencing guidelines for minority defendants
-
Trump puts world on edge as 'Liberation Day' tariffs loom

Japan's century of efforts to tame earthquakes
Takashi Hosoda was in a Tokyo skyscraper when the 9.0 magnitude quake struck on March 11, 2011, but the trained architect was "not particularly worried" as modern Japanese buildings are designed to protect their occupants.
A century after Tokyo was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Japanese capital today bears no resemblance to the city levelled by that 7.9 tremor, which killed 105,000 people.
The low-rise, largely wooden city that was destroyed a second time by US firebombing during World War II has been replaced by a soaring megalopolis where reinforced concrete is king.
The September 1, 1923, disaster marked "the dawn of seismic design of structures in Japan", said Yoshiaki Nakano, an earthquake engineering expert from the National Research Institute for Earth Sciences and Disaster Resilience (NIED).
The following year Japan introduced its first building code for earthquake-resistant construction.
These standards have been constantly expanded since then, drawing on lessons from other major tremors in the archipelago, which accounts for around 10 percent of the world's earthquakes.
Japan's seismic building code is one of the most stringent in the world, Nakano told AFP.
"Basically, the Japanese building requires a relatively higher strength" than elsewhere, he said, stressing the importance of meticulous monitoring of compliance.
"The system to supervise and check the design and the construction on-site is a very key factor to ensure the quality of the structure, the performance of the building during earthquakes," he said.
The 2011 earthquake triggered a deadly tsunami along the northeast coast but in Tokyo the damage was limited: high-rise towers oscillated alarmingly for several minutes but did not topple.
- Skyscraper shock absorbers -
Early basic reinforced structures have been adapted with more sophisticated seismic safety measures found in modern towers.
Massive soft rubber cushions are installed under the foundations to isolate them from ground vibrations; shock absorbers are distributed throughout the floors; and some even have pendulums weighing several hundred tonnes installed at the top to counteract the movement of the building during a quake.
Built in 2014 and rising 247 metres (810 feet) above the city, the Toranomon Hills Mori Tower is fitted with such seismic anti-vibration systems, including 516 oil dampers, each comprising a thick cylinder 1.7 metres long.
"It stretches and shrinks repeatedly in case of an earthquake. It then starts getting warm, which means the energy of the quake transforms into heat and gets released," Kai Toyama, a structural engineering official at real estate giant Mori Building, told AFP.
"As a result, the tremor of the whole building can be controlled."
After the Kobe earthquake in 1995 left more than 6,000 dead, emphasis was also placed on strengthening earthquake resistance standards for new wooden houses and upgrading older buildings dating from before the last major overhaul of the building code in 1981.
The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 was also "a wake-up call to Japan", Nakano noted. "Not only the engineers but also for people."
Since 1960, Japan has marked September 1 as national Disaster Prevention Day.
Every year on that day, countless schoolchildren, employees and civil servants -- including the entire government -- carry out simulation exercises in preparation for a major earthquake.
In Japan, many people stock emergency supplies at home, as do businesses and local governments. As of April 1, 2023, local authorities in Tokyo have stockpiled 9.5 million instant meals (comprising rice, noodles and biscuits) in about 400 warehouses.
- Still vulnerable -
These precautionary measures were intensified after the 2011 earthquake, which caused huge traffic jams in Tokyo and the suspension of public transport, preventing millions of people from returning home, said Hosoda, now head of disaster management at Mori Building.
Despite all these efforts, some experts say Tokyo remains vulnerable to earthquakes, and even more to other natural disasters such as floods.
The eastern districts of the capital are built on unstable and flood-prone soils, and there are still concentrations of old wooden dwellings attached to each other.
Post-war rebuilding of Tokyo was "anarchic" and "prioritised economic development and not the construction of a resilient city", seismologist Masayuki Takemura lamented during a recent press conference.
He also pointed to an "excessive concentration of skyscrapers" and the construction of residential areas on artificial islands, increasing their risk of isolation in the event of a natural disaster.
And experts say there is a 70 percent chance of a major earthquake hitting Tokyo within the next 30 years.
D.Sawyer--AMWN