February 18, 2008
Disaster Free Drinks and Snacks
The Daily Yomiuri reports that a ?disaster relief vending machine? which can be enabled to dispense goods for free during a natural disaster, has been installed outside a police box in Maebashi.
And the Maebashi machine is not the only one. There are 20 similar vending machines in Shizuoka.
In fact, vending machines that become free-of-charge after a disaster or major quake have been available nationally at least since 2003.
When an earthquake of 5 or higher on the seismic intensity scale, or a similar disaster occurs, and if the anti-disaster headquarters is activated, the items in the special vending machines will be offered free of charge. An emergency power supply keeps the machines operating.
2 Comments
I didn’t know about this…good system.
I wonder how long it will take for the machine to be emptied and the goods to be sold on the black market after a large earthquake! Oh, well at least they’re heart is in the right place.