The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake caused 398 cases of fire in 17 prefectures, including the three Tohoku prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima that suffered most from the disaster, according to a survey by the Japan Association for Fire Science and Engineering.
Of the quake-induced fires, about half, or 122 cases, were electrical fires caused by electrical appliances or switchboards. This highlights the importance of installing seismometric circuit breakers that automatically cut off electricity when quakes are detected.
"If seismometric circuit breakers had been widely used, the fire damage could have been lessened. The central government and local governments must promote use of the breakers," said Nagoya University Associate Prof. Yu Hiroi, an expert on urban disaster prevention and the leader of the survey.