Japan governor under fire for Tokyo quake comments

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese governor has come under fire for comments appearing to suggest that a huge earthquake in Tokyo would be an opportunity for western Japan to boost its economy.

Toshizo Ido, governor of Hyogo prefecture -- where 6,400 people were killed by a 7.3 magnitude quake in 1995 -- made the remark at a meeting of governors from western Japan Tuesday.

"If there were a big earthquake in Kanto (eastern Japan), Tokyo would suffer great damage. This would be a chance, and we should take advantage of it," media reports quoted Ido as saying.

A government panel has estimated that a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hitting Tokyo Bay would probably kill up to 11,000 people and leave 7 million people homeless. Estimates of economic damage have topped more than $1 trillion (647 billion pounds).

Ido later said he was referring to the concentration of economic activity in Tokyo, whose more than 12 million residents make up about a 10th of Japan's population, and meant backup elsewhere was vital to be ready for a quake in the capital.

"I should have used a different word," he told reporters.

Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. The 1995 quake, Japan's worst in more than 50 years, devastated the western port city of Kobe and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage.

In 1923 a magnitude 7.9 quake hit the Tokyo area killing more than 140,000 people.

(Reporting by Linda Sieg)