The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism / Experts' Meeting will re-verify the earthquake resistance of the Shinkansen, with a view to moving ahead with measures
Following the derailment of the Tohoku Shinkansen due to the Fukushima-ken-oki earthquake in March, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will reexamine the earthquake resistance measures for all Shinkansen facilities centered on civil engineering structures. On the 31st, the "Verification Committee on Shinkansen Earthquake Countermeasures" will be established by outside experts. Confirm the seismic retrofitting plans of each JR company and the seismic standards established by the ministry. Depending on the results, we will consider requesting JR companies to reinforce seismic retrofitting ahead of schedule and strengthening seismic retrofitting standards.
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Tetsuo Saito announced at a post-Cabinet press conference on the 17th. Through the verification, he pointed out that "it is necessary to broadly consider how to advance the seismic retrofitting and how to prioritize it." "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism wants to consider how to bear the new costs ahead of schedule," he said.
The verification committee confirmed the conventional seismic measures by dividing them into three categories: ▽ JR companies' reinforcement plans ▽ seismic standards for structures, etc. ▽ others. The timing is undecided, but we will summarize the interim report for each theme. The final report will be decided after receiving the report of the Japan Transport Safety Board regarding the derailment of the Tohoku Shinkansen.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the seismic retrofitting plans for Shinkansen facilities of JR companies include the priorities, schedules, and reinforcement methods for individual measures. The 2012 revision of the earthquake resistance standards is said to be the last, based on the lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake.
An earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of 6 upper occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture on March 16, and about 60 places such as the pillars of the viaduct section passing through Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were damaged on the Tohoku Shinkansen. Station equipment such as overhead line equipment, utility poles, and elevators were also damaged.
