Major earthquake in Tokyo metropolitan area may claim 18,000 lives: estimate

A powerful earthquake that has a high chance of occurring beneath Tokyo and nearby areas within the next few decades could kill 18,000 people and cause 83 trillion yen ($535 billion) in economic damage in the worst-case scenario, a draft government estimate showed Friday.The estimate, made under the scenario of a magnitude-7.3 quake hitting the metropolitan area, is less severe than the previous one in 2015, but falls short of the government's goal at the time of halving the projected death toll over 10 years.The revisions, from the earlier estimated 23,000 deaths and economic losses of 95 …READ FULL ARTICLE