In the earthquake that observed shaking with a seismic intensity of 6 or higher in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures on the 16th of this month, water pipes were damaged and up to about 70,000 households were cut off, mainly in the Tohoku region.
The percentage of seismic water pipes nationwide is still low at 40%, and experts point out that "similar water outages can occur anywhere in the country."
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the earthquake off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, which observed shaking with a seismic intensity of 6 or higher, caused a maximum of about 70,000 water outages, mainly in the Tohoku region, such as Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture, and the water outage continued on the 22nd. There is an area where you are.
The main cause of the water outage was damage to the water pipes and disconnection of the joints due to the shaking of the earthquake, and it seems that some of them lacked earthquake resistance.
According to the survey results released this month by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the percentage of major water pipes nationwide, including those with hard ground that do not need to be earthquake-resistant, was 40.7% as of the end of last year. , Still low.
By prefecture, the damage caused by the water outage occurred this time,
▽ Fukushima prefecture 56.3%
▽ Miyagi prefecture 46.4%
, which is higher than the national average, but
▽ Kochi prefecture was the lowest, and also
▽ 27.7% in Tokushima prefecture ▽
29% in Miyazaki prefecture
▽ 31% in Wakayama prefecture,
etc., which is low in areas where the Nankai Trough earthquake is a concern.
The national government has decided to take measures such as financial support to make water pipes earthquake-resistant, but the measures are not sufficiently advanced in local governments where the population is declining and water toll income is decreasing. Is the current situation.
Professor Takuya Urakami of Kinki University, who is familiar with the water supply business, said, "It costs money to build a strong water supply system that can withstand a large-scale disaster, and it requires an increase in water charges. In reality, in the event of a disaster Considering that water outages will occur for a certain period of time, it is necessary for residents to have enough drinking water and domestic water to survive on their own. "