Tsunami from Nankai megaquake could damage 2 million cars

TOKYO - More than 2 million cars could be damaged by tsunami waves in the event of a megaquake along the Nankai Trough off Japan's Pacific coast, an organization offering free rental vehicles to disaster victims said Wednesday.

The survey, which covered 12 of Japan's 47 prefectures, including Aichi in central Japan, showed that at least 2.04 million privately owned vehicles could be hit by tsunami waves following a magnitude-8 or -9 earthquake -- about five times the number of vehicles damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan.