Japanese Makers Rushing to Mitigate Possible Nankai Trough Quake Damage

Tokyo, April 2 (Jiji Press)--Japanese manufacturers are accelerating efforts to mitigate the economic impact of a massive earthquake forecast to occur in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast of central to southwestern Japan.

The Japanese government said that the earthquake could cause damage of up to 45.4 trillion yen to domestic production and services, nearly half of which will come from the automobile and other manufacturing industries.

Over 600 bases of small and midsize parts suppliers to Toyota Motor Corp. were damaged in a powerful earthquake and tsunami that mainly rocked northeastern Japan in March 2011. Then Toyota President Akio Toyoda and company staff traveled to affected areas to support the recovery of disrupted supply chains.

Toyota is considering the possibility of transferring some production in the key Tokai central Japan region, which is expected to be hit hard in the Nankai Trough earthquake, to the Tohoku northeastern and Kyushu southwestern regions.

Honda Motor Co. was forced to temporarily reduce production of its flagship N-Box minivehicle after suppliers were affected by a strong earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in central Japan in 2024.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]