local governments in Japan have voiced concern over their own vulnerability to quakes. Experts say that an earthquake with a magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale could strike at any time along the three fault lines in Shizuoka, Kanagawa, and Nagano prefectures.

There are over 2,000 fault lines in Japan that could trigger off tremors. The Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion has examined half of the fault lines and released an interim research report regarding the three prefectures. The institute said the Fujigawa river basin fault line in the east of Shizuoka Prefecture could cause a magnitude-8 quake anytime in the next several hundred years. After hearing about the earthquake in Taiwan, Shizuoka Prefecture governor Yoshinobu Ishikawa told a meeting that he would do his best to formulate measures to deal with disasters. The prefecture's Disaster Prevention Bureau said it would use the Taiwan earthquake as a reference and study ways to heighten the consciousness of people in the prefecture regarding such disasters.