Yomiuri: Don't rush to put out flames during quake
If you live in an apartment on a high floor, it's safer to first take cover during a strong earthquake than to immediately extinguish a gas stove or kerosene heater, according to a survey by the Tokyo Fire Department. The survey found that furniture and electrical appliances fell over in nearly half of the Tokyo apartments located 11 floors up or higher during the Great East Japan Earthquake. The department believes this was the result of the "long-period earthquake ground motion" during the March 11 quake, which heightened the swaying of buildings' higher floors. If residents on higher floors rush to extinguish flames in such a case, they could be trapped under falling furniture, it said. The fire department is calling on people who live on higher floors to first get to safer places, such as under desks, and put out flames later....In 2007, the department revised its safety rules for residents during earthquakes. Previously it encouraged residents to extinguish flames quickly, but the revised version calls for people to wait until a quake has stopped...However, the 2007 revisions by the department are not widely known among the public. According to a different survey conducted by the department in April among Tokyo residents, 74 percent of respondents said they put out flames in their kitchens as soon as they felt the Great East Japan Earthquake. Only 12 percent said they extinguished flames after the quake stopped...more...