TOKYO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A Japanese governor has come under fire for comments appearing to suggest that a huge earthquake in Tokyo would be an opportunity for western Japan to boost its economy. Toshizo Ido, governor of Hyogo prefecture -- where 6,400 people were killed by a 7.3 magnitude quake in 1995 -- made the remark at a meeting of governors from western Japan on Tuesday. "If there were a big earthquake in Kanto (eastern Japan), Tokyo would suffer great damage. This would be a chance, and we should take advantage of it," media reports quoted Ido as saying. A government panel has estimated that a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hitting Tokyo Bay would probably kill up to 11,000 people and leave 7 million people homeless. Estimates of economic damage have topped more than $1 trillion. Ido later said he was referring to the concentration of economic activity in Tokyo, whose more than 12 million residents make up about a 10th of Japan's population, and meant backup elsewhere was vital to be ready for a quake in the capital. "I should have used a different word," he told reporters. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. The 1995 quake, Japan's worst in more than 50 years, devastated the western port city of Kobe and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage. In 1923 a magnitude 7.9 quake hit the Tokyo area killing more than 140,000 people. (Reporting by Linda Sieg)
Pupils attend physical education at their temporary school at the earthquake-hit Shifang, Sichuan province November 11, 2008. November 12, 2008 marks the half-year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA) CHINA ...
