TOKYO (AFP) – Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday cancelled a four-day trip to Central Asia after government scientists warned Japan should prepare for a possible “megaquake”.
The weather agency said a huge earthquake was more likely in the aftermath of a magnitude 7.1 jolt in the south on Thursday, which left 14 people injured. Some bullet trains between Tokyo and western Osaka are running more slowly as a precaution, so delays will be possible for about a week, the rail operator said.
Nuclear plants nationwide were also instructed by authorities to double-check their disaster preparations.
The Japanese word for “hoarding” was trending on social media platform X as people expressed concern about panic-buying and urged each other to stay rational.
Premier Kishida was due yesterday to travel to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia and attend a regional summit. “As the prime minister with the highest responsibility for crisis management, I decided I should stay in Japan for at least a week,” he told reporters. He said the public must be feeling “very anxious” after the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued its first advisory under a new system drawn up following a major magnitude 9.0 earthquake in 2011, which triggered a deadly tsunami and nuclear disaster.
“The likelihood of a new major earthquake is higher than normal, but this is not an indication that a major earthquake will definitely occur,” the JMA said.
Traffic lights and cars shook and crockery fell off shelves during Thursday’s earthquake off the southern island of Kyushu, but no serious damage was reported.
