It has been long debated among earth scientists such like me how much we would be able to contribute to the prediction and mitigation of catastrophic natural disasters. For example, a large plate-subduction earthquake might lead to a collapse of Japanese society and economy. Drilling into the seismogenic zone by the deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu enables us to install high-resolution real-time observation and warning system that might be very effective for disaster mitigation of the great plate-boundary earthquake.

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