TOKYO, Sept. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Major quakes simultaneously hitting three areas in the Pacific off central to western Japan could kill as many as 28,300 people in the country, a government panel studying quake disasters said Wednesday.

　　The quakes are estimated to cause economic damages of around 81trillion yen (692.3 billion US dollars), according to the panel.

　　It is the first time for the panel of Japan's Central Disaster Management Council to announce its estimates of casualties and damages arising from three big temblors hitting at the same time as in 1707 and 1854.

　　According to the estimates, the death toll will likely be around 24,700 people or less if the floodgates function properly.

　　It said the 497 municipalities within 21 prefectures should be included among the government's designated areas that need to prepare for the earthquakes.

　　The central government is to provide financial assistance to the designated localities for coming up with their disaster prevention plans, the panel members said.

　　In coming up with its estimate damage figures, the panel envisioned that an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.7 on the Richter scale would hit an area off the Kii Peninsula in central Japan's Kinki region.

　　Under the supposition, earthquakes registering 6 or above on the Japanese scale would occur from east Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo to southwest Japan's Miyazaki Prefecture.

　　The most damage to houses, residential structures and buildingsthrough the shaking, tsunamis and fires would occur at 6 p.m. whenthe wind blows at 54 kilometers per hour, completely destroying upto 940,200 structures.

　　Seismologists say the three simultaneous quakes occur once every 100 to 150 years, and many experts say there is a high possibility they may occur within the first half of this century.

　　According to the panel, the last three major quakes in Japan occurred in 1854, 1944 and 1946, with a magnitude of 8.4, 8.0 and 7.9 on the Richter Scale respectively. Enditem