Japan's Central Disaster Management Council decided on July 1 to work on reducing the estimated deaths from the next Nankai Trough megathrust earthquake by 80 percent in the coming 10 years.

Researchers say there is an 80 percent chance of the next Nankai Trough megaquake occurring within 30 years.

In March this year, a government panel revised for the first time in about 10 years the estimated worst-case damage likely to occur when it strikes, putting the maximum number of deaths at 298,000 and completely destroyed buildings at 2.35 million.

The council also decided to work on halving the estimated number of totally destroyed buildings as it revised the basic disaster management plan for the first time in 11 years.

Specific measures include reinforcing the seismic resistance of residences and evacuation facilities.