Everyone should prepare for the Big One to hit.

Not only the central and local governments but also citizens are asked what lessons they learned from the Kobe quake in the last 10 years.

The extent of damage caused by the earthquake that hit Niigata Prefecture has become clearer: More than 20 people were killed and 2,000 injured. About 80,000 had to spend two nights in shelters.

Among those killed were children and elderly people who were trapped under collapsed houses or died in landslides. A baby died because of the shock.

As time passed, the horror of the quake was driven home. It was an ineffable tragedy that suddenly struck on a quiet Saturday evening.

The earthquake hit soon after the ground had become unstable due to the recurrent typhoons. Niigata Prefecture was hit by torrential downpours that killed 15 people in July. Large and powerful typhoons lashed the area as they passed off Sadoga-shima island in autumn.

Landslides took place in many places in the village of Yamakoshi and in Nagaoka city, causing enormous damage that destroyed houses.

The main earthquake struck just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, followed by serious aftershocks. Three quakes, including the first one, occurred within 40 minutes with intensities of ``upper 6'' on the Japanese seismic scale of 7.

A quake with an intensity of upper 6 means ``people cannot stand; windowpanes are broken in many buildings; and many wooden houses that are not very quake-resistant collapse.''

Moreover, this earthquake was an ``inland quake'' like the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. Because the focus of the quake was at a shallow place, the shaking was very violent for its magnitude on the Richter scale. The Kobe quake was greater than the Niigata quake on the Japanese intensity scale. But if Saturday's temblor was measured by an accelerometer, which indicates the intensity of shaking in a very short period, the Niigata quake was indeed stronger than the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

Compared to the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which killed 6,433 people, the death toll in Niigata Prefecture was much smaller because of different conditions, such as population density.

Unlike a Tokai Earthquake, a Nankai Earthquake and other large oceanic quakes that are forecast to take place before long, many inland quakes stem from faults hidden under the ground, which makes it difficult to predict the location and scale of the quake. It would not be surprising if an earthquake like the latest one takes place anytime anywhere in Japan. The Niigata quake showed it is necessary for everybody to take precautions to prevent damage by a temblor.

The earthquake in Niigata and its aftermath have not yet ended. The Japan Meteorological Agency expects more major aftershocks in the days ahead. People should not relax.

During natural disasters, it is important to secure a means of communication. But mobile phones, the handiest tool at the disposal of the victimized people, were of no use.

Some of the quake-stricken areas were cut off from the outside because traffic had stopped on buckled and collapsed roads. People could not communicate with their relatives in other areas for many hours because the mobile phones' relay stations were broken or their cable lines were severed.

About 6,000 lines of the fixed-line telephones installed at residents' houses in Niigata Prefecture remained unusable 24 hours after the first major quake.

It is not yet known when public utility services will be fully restored. Although electricity supply is gradually returning to normal, supplies of water and gas remain cut off at many places. Unless water, electricity and gas are all available, people will have to remain in shelters.

People in shelters complain they cannot sleep because of the cold. In the Chuetsu district, the lowest temperature dips to nearly 5 degrees on some days at this time of the year. Blankets, heating equipment and other materials should immediately be sent to the affected areas.

The 10th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake will be marked on Jan. 17 next year. Since the time of that huge quake, large temblors have also struck Tottori and Miyagi prefectures.

Not only the central and local governments but also citizens are asked what lessons they learned from the Kobe quake in the last 10 years.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 25(IHT/Asahi: October 26,2004) (10/26)