There¡¯s nothing comical about this manga: office building windows shatter, trains derail and cars plunge from buckling bridges. It all happens at 4:35 p.m. on a day dubbed ¡°Tokyo¡¯s X Day.¡±
This catastrophic scenario is depicted in a 300-page book on earthquake preparedness published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The book, which includes tips on how to make fly traps to rid evacuation centers of pests, begins with a weighty warning: Experts say there¡¯s a 70 percent chance of a quake directly hitting the greater Tokyo area, home to 36 million people, within the next three decades.
¡°It¡¯s a race between us and the earthquake. And if we don¡¯t win it we won¡¯t be able to protect the capital,¡± said professor Satoshi Fujii of Kyoto University, a special adviser on disaster preparation to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s Cabinet.
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