REUTERS
August 9, 2024 at 15:05 JST
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters on July 22 at his office in Tokyo. (Takeshi Iwashita)
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cancelled plans to visit central Asia on Friday, and spearhead precautionary measures instead, following an unprecedented warning that the risk of a major Pacific coast earthquake was higher than usual.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued on Thursday its first-ever warning of the risk of a huge earthquake on the country’s Pacific coast, following one of magnitude 7.1 that struck the southwestern island of Kyushu the same day.
“I have decided to stay in the country for the next week or so to ensure our preparations and communications are in order,” Kishida told a press conference, although the warning did not give a timeframe or call for evacuations.
“But it is the first time it is issued and I believe people would be feeling anxious about it,” he added.
“Consequently, I have decided to cancel my planned visit to Central Asia and Mongolia.”
The government may seek to hold the meetings with regional leaders online instead, public broadcaster NHK said. The visit to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia was originally set to run from Friday to Monday.
The meteorological agency’s advisory warns of a higher probability of a huge earthquake in the Nankai trough, an ocean-floor trench running along Japan’s Pacific coast, where previous quakes have triggered enormous tsunamis.
It did not indicate a quake would definitely happen but encouraged people to be ready to evacuate if necessary.
Japan estimates at 70% to 80% the probability of an earthquake of magnitude 8 or 9 happening around the trough in the next 30 years, according to the infrastructure ministry.
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.