prepare for the worst. experts examine how to minimize damage in the event of a major earthquake hitting japan. welcome to nhk world "newsline." since the devastating earthquake and tsunami in northeastern japan last year, concerns are rising that another major quake could hit the country. experts predict such an earthquake could strike in central or western regions and even in tokyo. scholars and other experts gathered at a symposium in the capital on thursday to discuss how to best prepare for such a temblor. 29 academic societies in such fields as

earthquake engineering, construction and urban planning took part in establishing disaster preparedness measures. in an effort to assure safety, disaster preparedness efforts. attendees discussed the need to move some residential areas to higher ground and to develop construction technologies able to resist tsunami. they also proposed the establishment of a database. that can identify locations vulnerable to earthquakes. >> translator: i want to learn how to prepare for a possible major earthquake in tokyo and what to do if one strikes. >> translator: we should prepare for the next big quake, even if it doesn't happen for a hundred years. >> the effect of a massive earthquake directly under tokyo was one of the symposium topics. japan's capital is home to more than 13 million people and thousands of companies. a mega quake in the metropolis would have a severe impact on the whole nation. the tokyo metropolitan government has revised its quake damage estimates for the first time in six years.

the forecast is based on a scenario in which a magnitude 7.3 quake occurs under tokyo bay. powerful jolts will rock the city and about 400,000 buildings will collapse or sustain heavy damage. if the quake hits at around 6:00 p.m. on a windy, winter day about 200,000 buildings will go up in flames. the estimated death toll is 9,700, 50% above the previous forecast. a lack of functioning public transport is likely to leave more than 5 million people stranded at work. the numbers cover only tokyo with damage in neighboring prefek churz such as kanagawa and chiba not taken into account. when a massive earthquake strikes, local authorities play a crucial role in coordinating rescue operations. officials in the greater tokyo area are working to ensure that they can stay in action even in the worst circumstances.

nhk world reports on how prepared they are at this point. >> reporter: police in kanagawa prefecture, nearby tokyo, run a earthquake and tsunami drill on thursday. the assumption is police headquarters in yokohama have been damaged and the command center must be relocated. in march the prefecture prepared for this contenjin sy by setting up an alternative site 25 kilometers away. >> translator: we may face problems such as downed phone lines and overloaded wireless networks. we want to study ways to prepare for these contingencies. >> reporter: in tokyo the metropolitan government office stands on solid bedrock. some 200 employees reside within a two kilometer radius of the office.

if an earthquake strikes, the task is to set up a disaster headquarters there. other employees have also been assigned specific duties in emergencies, but preparedness goes even farther. the metropolitan authorities have set up an alternative site 30 kilometers west of central tokyo. it is near a base and a hospital. the backup site is ready should a disaster strike. it's equipped with the same communication as damage assessment systems as the metropolitan government offices in sanjuku. 60 employees living in adjacent buildings are on call to man their stations when required. >> translator: first of all, i

want the public to rest assured that the metropolitan office was built on extremely solid ground, but we are also prepared for various contingencies. that's why our systems are fully backed up at the tachikawa disaster management center. >> reporter: tokyo is prepared for the worst that has yet to conduct a full scale assimilation of operations to the backup site. the march 2011 earthquake and tsunami led to the identification of weaknesses in disaster preparation. keeping command of the control center operational is a key element of lessening the impact of a disaster. daisuke iijima, nhk world, tokyo. two powerful explosions

rocked the syrian capital of damascus thursday morning killing at least 55 people. the blast came in close succession near a building housing intelligence agency in central damascus. syrian government officials said more than 300 people were wounded. they said the blasts looked like a suicide bombing using two cars. syrian state run television repeatedly broadcast video footage of the scene, condemning the blasts as the work of terrorists targeting civilians. in a telephone interview with nhk, an anti-government activist described the bombings as attacks by anti-government forces who want to justify their crackdown on civilians. le have against protesters continues even after a u.n. mission began last month to monitor a cease-fire. >> my very clear message to anyone -- to anyone that is engaging in this kind of violence is that it is not going to solve any problems.

>> damascus has been plagued by a series of bomb attacks in government buildings since january. the president of peru has urged japan to participate early in talks for the trans-pacific partnership free trade agreement. the president spoke to nhk in tokyo. peru is already negotiating to join the tpp. >> translator: it would be regrettable if japan remained outside the framework of the tpp talks. especially during this period of economic globalization. >> the president also mentioned a bilateral economic partnership agreement which took effect in march. >> translator: we hope the agreement will help promote technology transfers from all

industries in japan. >> the president said he will work to attract more japanese investment. an increasing number of firms from japan, south korea and other nations have been operating in peru, which is enjoying rapid economic growth. in greece, a rerun of last sunday's parliamentary elections appears increasingly likely as political parties continue to face difficulty forming a coalition government. socialist pasok party leader evangelos venizelos the two parties that came first and second have already failed to form a coalition government. the two parties that came first and second failed to form a coalition government. the senior pasok official told nhk that venizelos wants to forge alliances with its former governing coalition partner, the new democracy party, and a minority center left party. but the official says this is not expected to be successful. a new election is more likely. he says the minority party is opposed to the austerity

measures the country promised in return for eu rescue loans. amid the political turmoil in greece, eurozone countries decided to hold back part of a skethd loan payment to the country. china and the philippines remain locked in a month old standoff over a disputed shoal in the south china sea with no end in sight. the situation is beginning to affect chinese travel to the philippines. the standoff began on april 10th when chinese survey ships blockade philippine naval frigate from seizing chinese fishing boats. anti-chinese sentiment is growing in the philippines. a protest rally is scheduled for friday in front of the chinese embassy in manila. the chinese online travel agency ctrip.com said on wednesday that it has suspended the sale of group tours to the philippines because such travel carries a potential risk. china's xinhua news agency says other major chinese travel agencies are offering full refunds to customers who wish to

cancel planned trips to the philippines. sony has posted its business result in its corporate history. the japanese electronicsmaker logged a fourth consecutive annual net loss in fiscal 2011. the firm announced its earnings report for the fiscal year through march. it posted a record net loss of $5.7 billion. sony continues to struggle in its television business. in this market its main competitors are south korean makers. the poor performance of the u.s. subsidiaries also contributed to the decline. however in the current business year through march 2012, sony expects earnings to turn around and it estimates a net profit of $375 million. the company says its digital cameras and personal computers business will help shore up its profitability. that's due to the cost-cutting efforts on production lines. sony's chief financial officer

emphasized his determination to see the company turn to the black after years of losses. >> translator: rebuilding our electronics business such as tv products is our most urgent task. fiscal 2012 will be a very important year for sony. >> olympus showed a net loss in the fiscal year through march. the company has been rocked by a cover-up of massive losses. the scandal hit japanese optical equipmentmaker announced a net loss for fiscal 2011 that came to about $612 million. the company says record high levels in the japanese currency and floods in thailand reduced profits. it also had to pay the extra costs of liquidating three subsidiaries. the company's former management bought the companies to hide huge investment losses. the president said the company will have a business plan ready for the annual stockholders'

meeting scheduled for late june. the total market value for olympus has plummeted to nearly a third compared to a year ago. it is looking for ways to boost its financial health. measures include possible alliances as it clears its way out of the scandal. japan's daiwa security group is targeting a profit of $1.5 billion bit end of fiscal 2014. the firm posted a net loss of almost $500 million in fiscal 2011, that ended in march. the president announced the group's business plan for the next three years. he said the group aims to more than triple the number of deposit accounts at a subsidiary bank to about $63 billion. daiwa said the group plans to sell financial products such as mutual funds to depositors at the bank. daiwa also plans to boost its merger and acquisition business in asia as it expects japanese firms will look for more deals abroad. japanese businesses and

consuco consumers rely more and more on energy from abroad. the current account surplus for the fiscal year that ended in march showed its biggest percentage drop ever. it's half of what it was the year before. finance ministry officials said a surplus of fiscal 2011 was about $99 billion. that's down more than 52% in yen terms from the previous year. it was the first drop in three years and the biggest since comparable data became available in 1985. the drop in surplus was led by a weak trade balance. exports fell 2.8% amid a global economic slowdown. imports increased 14% due to higher imports of fossil fuels. they're needed after japanese officials shut down nuclear reactors following the accident at fukushima daiichi. the current account and balance say broad measure of foreign trade and includes income from foreign investments and dividends in addition to exports and imports.

china's exports showed slower growth in april for the second straight month due to lingering concerns about european debts. the chinese customs authorities said on thursday that exports in april totaled about $163 billion. that's up just 4.9% from the same month a year ago. it is lower than the 8.9% posted in march. the authorities say the drop is due to a continuous fall in orders from european countries as a result of the debt crisis. european countries are china's biggest trade partners or trading partners. imports meanwhile totaled nearly $145 billion. that's a growth of just 0.3% compared to a year ago and well below the percentage in march. concerns are mounting of a further slowdown in exports because many chinese firms process imported raw materials into goods that are then exported. spain is expected to partially nationalize the country's third largest commercial bank in an effort to

shore up the struggling banking industry. bankia received public funds in the past worth 4.5 billion euros. the country's central bank says the parent firm of bankia asked the state to convert the funds into common stocks. the government would effectively hold 45% of bankia shares. bankia was established in 2010 by merging seven local financial institutions but it has been saddled with bad loans to real estate investors. in spain, the amount of nonperforming loans is rapidly increasing amid a serious economic recession. spanish government bonds are being heavily sold on doubts about the solidness of the banking sector. the yield on the country's ten year government bond is hovering at around 6%. the government plans to announce measures to shore up the country's banking industry later this week. here is the latest market figures.

a u.s. research team has suggested burying plutonium stockpiles under ground. the group says the measure with help avoid the heavy cost of recycling it as fuel as well as the ease the risk of it being used by terrorists. a princeton university professor and three other experts made the suggestion in the british science magazine "nature". the group says the recycling of plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel costs much more than other methods of disposing of it. the experts say more than 250 tons of plutonium are stock

piled around the world for commercial purposes. the group citeses near the stored plutonium could fall into the hands of terrorists because it can be made into nuclear weapons. the world's most famous red sports cars left ferrari executives red faced this week in china. a promotional event defaced a historic site with skid marks. the italian carmaker was celebrating its 20th year in the chinese market on sunday at nanjing. for the occasion, the company used a crane to lift one of its cars on to a 14th century wall. a driver then performed skidding turns, tire marks were found at the site afterwards. revelations of the damage had created an outcry among nanjing citizens and tourists. ferrari executives have been busy apologizing. they said in a statement, the act was inappropriate and regrettable. there may be hope for sufferers of als or lou gehrig's

disease. japanese researchers took the first steps in unraveling the mechanism of the illness. this could lead to an eventual cure for the muscle wasting disease. als destroys motor neuron cells taking away the ability to breathe and leading to death. the exact cause of the disease is not clear. but it is thought to be genetic. researchers re-created the process of cell death brought on by the disease. they created motor neuron cells from human embryonic stem cells. they found that the cells used in the experiment died in the same way as cells affected by the disease. the team also re-created cell death by introducing culture taken from a type of cell blamed for the worsening of the condition. the culture killed motor neuron cells just as in cases of als. the experts hope that their results will show how neuron

cells are destroying -- destroyed by the disease and lead to a breakthrough in the treatment of als. south korean exports like samsung and lg are famous around the world, but south korea is also making a name for itself as an importer of students. an increasing number of young people from asia's emerging countries are traveling there to study. south korea's government and business communities are trying to make the most of their talents. nhk world's anna jung has the story. >> reporter: i'm at a university classroom about an hour away from seoul. almost half of the students here have come from overseas to study in south korea. the department of energy, science at this university graduate school is considered one of the best in the country. researchers here work to develop new energy sources like solar power and nano technology. about half of the 35 students in the program are foreigners.

they come from india, vietnam and china. all classes are held in english. this man came from india to study here in 2007. he was attracted by south korea's reputation for cutting-edge technology. >> we must give high stress on the improvement of new technology and new research. that is the main strong point of korea, which is totally different than other growing countries. >> reporter: the population of foreign students in south korea is growing dramatically. in the past eight years the number has increased sevenfold. last year there were about 90,000 foreigners studying in the country. >> in the past foreign students

tend to choose the u.s. or the uk to study abroad. however, these days as korean companies are getting more attention and the statuses are rising on the world stage, students started to select korean universities to run the new technology in korea. >> reporter: the government is encouraging more foreign students to join domestic companies after graduating. it started a program to let students extend their visas and expand the categories of jobs they can apply for. the c.j. group is one of south korea's leading international companies with offices in 18 countries. it's involved in businesses ranging from food service to pharmaceuticals and it's looking to expand. the company has been holding information sessions for

international job seekers since 2008. the meetings are specifically for foreign students in south korea. last year more than 550 students from 24 countries applied. about 20 were hired. >> translator: we will actively seek to secure global talent by hiring foreign students in south korea. we will also hire workers overseas. >> reporter: this woman is from indonesia. she's one of the students who was hired after attending an information session with the c.j. group. andinia attended a university in 2009 majoring in international trade. she now analyzes import/export data. >> as we work with the current company maybe somehow i can help this company to become bigger

and globalize and establish one company in my country. >> reporter: as more companies cultivate talent from overseas, foreign students may soon have a greater presence in south korea's economy and corporate life. anna jung, nhk world, seoul. all right, now mai shoji with the weather forecast for here and elsewhere. >> isolated thunderstorms across the kanto region is tapering off as we speak by friday. it looks like we're going to be seeing sunny weather by tomorrow. but northern japan and in hokkaido, windy and wet conditions will be prevailing, especially in northern hokkaido, where things are very cool up there. the precipitation up there could actually turn to sleet or snow. the calendar is marking may, but things are going to be turning to white, even some of the low lying areas could see some snow

accumulation. meanwhile, western japan as well as the korean peninsula and also northeastern china as well as southeastern china where we have been seeing these flooding situations, heavy rain battering the area, that's going to be dissipating so that's very great news. however, another rainstorm will be developing over central china. additional rainfall could be as much as 100 millimeters, so upping the risk of flooding there. and this system will then be moving down towards the region where the ground moisture is very, very high. the land is very saturated, so over the weekend, when that system moves into the area, further flooding is going to be at high risk. we have another low pressure system developing over eastern mongolia, moving towards northeastern china. in and around this region you'll be feel something strong winds as well as some heavy rain. and in the wake of that system, really cold air is surging in. ulan batur at 15 degrees from what we saw today which was 22

degrees on thursday. friday, high is 15 degrees. saturday, that is going to be dropping to single digits around 7 degrees. we may see some sleet there. beijing, keeping its warmth at 23 degrees. and chongqing heating up to 31. tokyo, looking at 22 degrees for our friday high. all right, moving on to the americas now, the persistent system is now moving toward the canadian maritimes bringing windy conditions as well as some short term heavy rain, a few thunderstorms could be possible as well, but in the wake of that system, high pressure will be pressing overhead bringing some sunny conditions. very clear skies and also calmer, much dryer weather. however, things are looking very different here in texas. heavy rain outlook. we already have watches for flash floodings in and around the southern half of texas and across much of the texas/mexico border. severe thunderstorms could be erupting as well, and that could be associated with some large hail and damaging winds. brief tornadic activity cannot

be ruled out either. denver, we're looking at 28 degrees. temperaturewise. and winnipeg reaching up to 29 degrees, well above average, about 10 degrees above average, but that is going to be a different story for your friday, dipping down to about 16 degrees as the cold front will be passing through those areas. new york at 20 degrees. all right, moving over to europe now, we have a couple of low pressure systems that will be moving across the scandinavian peninsula, gusts are going to be very strong around the low countries, northern france and also northern portions of central europe. it could reach as much as 90 kilometers per hour associated with some short time heavy rain. across much of the other central regions, european continent, things are looking very sunny and heating up in vienna and in berlin, couple of 29s we see there. madrid, hotter at 31 degrees. here is the extended forecast.

we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

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