The massive earthquake that hit northeast Japan on March 11 has spurred parliamentarians to consider contingency plans, including setting up an alternative capital.

On March 13, Diet members from various parties met to form a "Diet member association to promote a crisis management capital."

The meeting agreed that a disastrous earthquake may hit Tokyo at any time and plans should be drawn up to ensure government functions would continue even if the capital suffered disastrous damage.

Experts say the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the northeast means Japan is now even more prone to major earthquakes. The quake may trigger other major quakes in the north of Tokyo Bay and in the Eastern Sea of Japan near Shizuoka prefecture.

It is estimated that a magnitude 7.3 quake hitting north Tokyo Bay would leave 11,000 people dead and 21,000 injured as well as destroying 850,000 homes in Tokyo. Direct economic losses could reach 112 trillion Japanese yen.

In order to avert the collapse of state administrative functions, the association said a backup capital should be built to disperse some of Tokyo's administrative functions. The backup capital would take over Tokyo's functions in the event of an earthquake or other major disaster.

Reports say that the association has submitted a complete capital relocation plan to the government and the Diet, and hopes to put it into practice within a year.