Japan’s Space Agency To Develop Programme To Estimate Earthquake Damage*

KUMAMOTO (Japan), Jan 17 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Japan’s space agency has signed an agreement with Kumamoto Prefecture to advance the practical application of a programme that estimates earthquake-induced building damage using satellite imagery, Kyodo news agency reported.

Under the agreement, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will receive approximately 200,000 data points on buildings damaged in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake to improve the programme’s accuracy before its nationwide implementation.

According to JAXA, the programme can assess building damage within two to three hours of observation by comparing satellite images taken before and after an earthquake. It can also function effectively at night and in adverse weather conditions.

JAXA noted that the programme will be ready for deployment in the coming years.

"It is my strong desire for the lessons learned by Kumamoto to be utilised for disaster response across Japan," Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said at the signing ceremony on Friday.

A JAXA spokesperson highlighted that the programme could aid emergency response efforts by identifying the most severely affected areas requiring urgent assistance.

Following the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula on New Year’s Day 2024, the Japanese government reported difficulties in assessing damage due to limited daylight hours.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO