An earthquake with a seismic intensity of less than 6 was observed in the northern part of Osaka Prefecture around 7:58 on June 18, 2018. As of July 1st the number of disaster-affected houses exceeds 22,000, and about 180 people are still in temporary shelter. The girl lost her life by the collapse of the block fence, the transportation networks and the lifeline were disrupted and the fragility of the city appeared. From large-scale earthquakes like this one, secondary disasters such as fire were expected.
However, there were only 7 fires at this Osaka North Earthquake. Here, speculation of the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1995 are utilized.
In the Great Hanshin Awaji earthquake, a large-scale fire occurred, and one of the major causes was gas leakage.
Therefore, major Japanese gas companies established a seismic intensity meter called SI sensor in the gas conduit from 1997 to 1999 after the earthquake. It is designed to automatically stop the gas supply when it senses a shake of about 6 seismic intensity. With this Osaka earthquake, the gas supply for approximately 10,000 houses stopped in Takatsuki city etc. Because of this system, fire was prevented beforehand. It can be said that we were able to utilize the lessons from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
Along with the growing interest in the earthquake in Japan, the significance and attention of the holding of our summit has increased dramatically.