Japan learned from the Kobe quake in 1995

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake

Disaster planning

The earthquake proved to be a major wake-up call for Japanese disaster
prevention authorities. Japan installed rubber blocks under bridges to
absorb the shock and rebuilt buildings further apart to prevent
collateral damage. The national government changed its disaster
response policies in the wake of the earthquake, and its response to
the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake was significantly faster and more
effective. The Ground Self-Defense Forces were given automatic
authority to respond to earthquakes over a certain magnitude, which
allowed them to deploy to the Niigata region within minutes. Control
over fire response was likewise handed over from local fire
departments to a central command base in Tokyo and Kyoto.[24]


In response to the widespread damage to transportation infrastructure,
and the resulting effect on emergency response times in the disaster
area, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport began
designating special disaster prevention routes and reinforcing the
roads and surrounding buildings so as to keep them as intact as
possible in the event of another earthquake.[25] Hyōgo's prefectural
government invested millions of yen in the following years to build
earthquake-proof shelters and supplies in public parks.[26]



6000 died - many burnt up in fires one or 2 days after the quake iirc