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The central government’s efforts to familiarize residents of Pacific coastal areas with a system that warns a megaquake might be imminent proved by and large to be a total flop.

That’s the assessment of about 40 percent of governors of prefectures that are deemed potentially at risk.

They all agreed that the government’s advance efforts were insufficient for residents to understand the first-ever Nankai Trough megaquake advisory in August, a survey by The Asahi Shimbun showed.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the advisory about the heightened risk of a megaquake along the Nankai Trough in the Pacific Ocean after a powerful temblor struck off Miyazaki Prefecture on Aug. 8.

It was the first government action taken based on the Nankai Trough Earthquake Extra Information protocol that was introduced in 2017.

The Nankai Trough is an ocean-floor trench that runs from the Tokai to Kyushu regions. The area has a history of being struck by megaquakes roughly once every 100 to 150 years.

The advisory urged residents in 707 pre-designated municipalities across 29 prefectures from Ibaraki to Okinawa to “lead a normal life while remaining careful of earthquakes” for seven days.

However, many people shunned travel to areas covered by the advisory and canceled visits to hometowns during the midsummer Bon holiday season.

In some prefectures, swimming beaches were closed, and fireworks displays and other events canceled.

The Asahi Shimbun asked the governors of the 29 prefectures, including Tokyo, to take part in a survey in late August after the weeklong advisory was lifted.

Thirteen governors, or about 40 percent of the total, said the government’s advance efforts to promote residents’ understanding of the advisory were insufficient.

Specifically, three governors said they were “not sufficient,” and the remaining eight said they were “relatively not sufficient.”

Miyazaki Governor Shunji Kono said, “Many prefectural residents and businesses were perplexed because they had never heard about the advisory before.”

Kochi Governor Seiji Hamada stated that few residents knew about the advisory.

Ehime Governor Tokihiro Nakamura said, “Many residents learned about the advisory for the first time through media reports.”

Sixteen governors, or about 50 percent of the total, said the advance efforts were “neither sufficient nor not sufficient.”

Still, many respondents said the government should have done more to raise public awareness about the advisory.

Nara Governor Makoto Yamashita said, “The public was not properly informed about the actions they were expected to take when the advisory was issued.”

Kyoto Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki said better public relations would have clarified, among other things, crucial “differences between the alert and the advisory,” referring to the higher-level “alert” that is possible under the Nankai Trough Extra Information protocol.

Only two governors said the government efforts were “relatively sufficient.” None said they were “sufficient.”

The government plans to conduct its own survey of local governments and review methods to familiarize the public about the advisory.

“We will carefully examine the way the information should be disseminated and the actions the public will be called on to take when (an advisory) is issued,” Yoshifumi Matsumura, minister of state for disaster management, told a news conference on Aug. 30. “We believe that further reviews will be necessary.”

(This article was written by Shoko Rikimaru and Ryo Oyama.)

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