Researchers of earthquakes stated at the conference in the fall of 1976, that a large-scale earthquake could hit the SurugaBay region, threatening complicated social consequences to the Tokai region, especially to Shizuoka Prefecture. Therefore, the Cabinet established the Headquarters for Earthquake Prediction in October of that year.
At the same time, the measures for observation and surveillance were reinforced, in order to improve the earthquake prediction system in the Tokai region. In April 1977, the Working Group for Earthquake Prediction in the Tokai region was formed in the Coordination Committee for Earthquake Prediction.( After the Tokai region was designated an "Area under Intensified Measures against Earthquake Disasters", inAugust 1979, the Working Group was abolished, and the "Council for Assessment in Areas under Intensified Measures against Earthquake Disasters" was created in the Meteorological Agency.) Since then, examination has been made of how to inform people of last-minute earthquake predictions and of what each of the agencies concerned with disaster prevention preparations, private enterprises and residents should do in an emergency. The "Large-scale Earthquake Countermeasures Act" was enacted in June 1978 and took effect in December of that year, providing measures to improve the disaster prevention system should a large-scale earthquake be predicted to hit.
When the prediction of a large-scale earthquake is made, the Large- scale Earthquake Countermeasures Act designates the "Areas under Intensified Measures against Earthquake Disasters (Sec. 3)", reinforces the earthquake observation system in the Areas and improves the earthquake disaster prevention system. The Act intends
