A recent study by Japanese government revealed on Tuesday that a future quake could hit the northern part of Tokyo Bay with greater intensity than previously thought.

A future earthquake could reach 7 on the Japanese intensity scale in the metropolitan, more powerful than upper 6 in the previous estimate, according to a finding by a team with Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ( MEXT).

The epicenter of the assumed quake of magnitude 7.3 might also be shallower than previous estimates, the study said.

Hirofumi Hirano, minister of the MEXT, told a news conference that the country needs to enhance its anti-disaster measures.

The current government estimate puts the death toll at about 10, 000 and economic damage at some 112 trillion yen (about 1.40 trillion U.S. dollars) based on the assumption a quake registering upper 6 hits the capital on a winter evening, according to Kyodo News.

The level of 7 is the maximum of the Japanese intensity scale classification which consists of 10 levels beginning with 0.