Japan expects a gigantic 30-metre tsunami wave to lash the country’s southern coast in the next few decades, the media reported on Friday.
With the memory of the 2011 Fukushima tragedy still fresh, the archipelago is racing against time to build special towers and routes for evacuation, seawalls and shelters, Efe news reported.
less than a km from the Nankoku coast in Kochi prefecture, work is on to erect one of the 90 evacuation towers that have already been built in the region.
Flanked by a floating capsule — to aid escape in case of a tsunami — the two-storey building, around 20-metre high, can house 362 people.
“An evacuation site is essential in this area, because there are no mountains, elevated places or buildings where locals can seek protection,” explains Manabu Nomura, head of Nankoku city council’s risk management department.
A bell to warn residents of an approaching threat crowns the building; next to it sits a stock of bedsheets, diapers, milk powder for babies, water and food.