TOKYO, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- More than 1 million Japanese took part in disaster drills across Japan Thursday in the wake of major earthquakes in the summer.
Most of the drills involved rescue activities and evacuations after earthquakes.
A practice session in the Okutama section of Tokyo assumed the region had been hit by an earthquake registering nearly 7 on the Richter scale. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government asked the Ground Self-Defense Force to dispatch rescue teams to the area, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Thursday.
Police and firefighters worked together to lift tourists out of an area hit by landslides.
Another drill held in the Machida section of Tokyo practiced a rescue of passengers from a bus that had turned on its side near a train station after a major earthquake. Government employees guided about 100 people on foot from the train station to the next station, about 2 miles away.
"I regularly bring a plastic bottle and a portable radio with me, because a major earthquake may hit urban areas anytime. Apart from large-scale drills, smaller ones also should be held more," said a 38-year-old man who took part in the Machida drill, the newspaper reported.
