"What is needed is to re-construct buildings to improve their quality ... Some kind of public support is needed to make such rebuilding easier. That will help contain the economic losses that could follow," he said.

Ito's comments came after the government panel, which is drawing up steps to boost Tokyo's preparedness for earthquakes, unveiled casualty and damage estimates under different scenarios.

The panel, which is to draw up recommendations by the end of March, said about 12,000 people could be killed if a 6.9 magnitude quake struck the western part of central Tokyo at 6 p.m. during the rush hour.

The magnitudes mentioned in the report are based on a Japanese scale that is very similar to the Richter scale.

In another scenario, involving a magnitude 7.3 tremor that hits the northern part of Tokyo Bay, about 11,000 people could be killed and about 850,000 homes destroyed, the panel said in a report.

Tokyo had more than 1.6 million wooden houses built before 1981, according to a 1997 city government report, making the capital susceptible to fire following major tremors.

EARTHQUAKE PRONE

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

Memories are still vivid in Japan of a 7.2 magnitude quake in the western port city of Kobe that killed more than 6,400 in 1995.

Tokyo suffered the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, a 8.3 magnitude tremor that killed more than 140,000.

The panel, however, did not draw up scenarios based on a Great Kanto-type earthquake, thought to occur only every 200 to 300 years.

Fires were the biggest cause of death in most scenarios drawn up by the panel, while the elderly, children and disabled would be most vulnerable and would need the most help.

If those types of tremors hit Tokyo in the middle of the day, while people are at work, about 6.5 million people could be stranded and unable to go home, the panel said.

Ito said some members of the panel thought the casualty estimates were too conservative. He said one member said the number of deaths may rise if a major earthquake struck at night, which could hamper rescue efforts.