Japan to fund purchase of quake-sensitive breakers

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency under the internal affairs ministry decided on the financial support in view of a large-scale fire in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, following a massive quake that hit the region's Noto Peninsula in January 2024.

The financial aid is expected to cover part of the costs to buy such breakers for residents in 15 municipalities, including Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward and the western city of Kobe, that have areas densely crowded with wooden houses.

The agency will request a budget fund for the project for fiscal 2026 without specifying exactly how much it needs.

Quake-sensitive breakers, also called seismic breakers, automatically cut off electricity when they detect a tremor.

Some use springs and weights, while others need to be plugged in.

Unlike with ordinary breakers, residents do not need to turn off quake-sensitive breakers manually when they evacuate.

Experts say that in Wajima, electric wirings damaged by the quake shorted out and burst into flames, which spread to old wooden houses.

Similar phenomena happened at the time of the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji temblor, which mainly hit Kobe.

The fire agency wants to promote the introduction of seismic breakers particularly in the 15 municipalities, where the high density of wooden houses is expected to make evacuation difficult.

The agency is considering covering part of the costs of municipalities running or planning to run subsidy programs for residents to introduce such breakers.

Details will be decided during the upcoming budget compilation process.

Some local governments have such programs, but the number has been limited mainly due to financial constraints.

A fiscal 2024 survey by the agency and the Cabinet Office showed that 21.3 pct of Japan's prefectures and 11.5 pct of municipalities had support programs.