News room

It will soon be nine years since the Great East Japan Earthquake.

With a high predicted probability of 70% that major earthquakes, including those along the Nankai Trough and directly beneath the capital, will occur within the next 30 years, the earthquake resistance of office buildings themselves is improving day by day. However, measures to prevent non-structural components (ceiling materials, interior walls, etc.) and furniture inside buildings from collapsing are still not sufficient.

In the event of an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 5+ to 7, even if a building does not collapse, there have been many reports of serious damage inside the building, such as collapsed ceilings, damaged walls, and overturned furniture.

So, this time we will introduce earthquake countermeasures for office furniture.

During the Kumamoto earthquake in April 2016, buildings designated as evacuation shelters became unable to continue functioning due to falling non-structural components inside the buildings, making it more important than ever to ensure the safety of not only the buildings themselves but also the interior of the buildings.

Last June 2019, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism revised the Architectural Design Standards that are applied to the architectural design of national government buildings and other facilities, including clarifying the provisions regarding the earthquake-resistant design of non-structural building components.

At ITOKI, we believe that "pre-disaster prevention" (measures taken before an earthquake occurs) is important in minimizing damage within the office, and we have been developing products based on this belief.

In the breakdown of fatalities and injuries by cause in the Great Hanshin Earthquake, 45.8% were caused by furniture and home appliances falling over. In addition, in the number of repair requests made to our company in the Great East Japan Earthquake, falling storage units accounted for an overwhelming 46% of the total, which shows that measures to prevent office furniture (especially storage units) from falling over are essential for "pre-disaster prevention" in offices.

One commonly used measure to prevent the unit from falling over is to use an L-shaped fixing bracket to secure it to the top of the wall.
However, the Tokyo Fire Department has also pointed out the risk of the storage unit collapsing, taking with it the wall or ceiling (※1), so there was a need to establish new measures to prevent the unit from collapsing.

So, as a new way to prevent falls, ITOKI has developed a new fall prevention product that is completely different from conventional products!

★Click here for a 1-minute introduction video: https://youtu.be/e-V03uJZQ1E

It boasts industry-leading performance, remaining resistant to collapse even when subjected to two consecutive earthquakes of magnitude 7 (※2) on the Japanese seismic scale (※3).
This is ITOKI's unique technology that prevents buildings from falling over by bending and deforming the seismic isolation L-shaped plate during an earthquake.

It also maintains the functional beauty of the cabinet and the appearance of the office, something that conventional earthquake countermeasures do not offer.
In addition, customers who are already using compatible products can install it as an add-on.

[Compatible products] S Cabinet, Thin Line Cabinet
(Cannot be used with non-compatible products or products from other companies.)

"L-FORCE" product page: https://www.itoki.jp/products/zoning/l-force/