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In Japan, anxiety is growing among the population the possible mega earthquake announced by authorities after Thursday’s magnitude 7.1 quake in the south of the country. Especially for the magnitude 6.8 quake that struck Saturday off the southeastern coast of the Russian island of Sakhalin, north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Authorities urged the population to avoid stockpiling supplies as there was a surge in demand for disaster kits and relief supplies.
A Tokyo supermarket posted a sign apologizing to customers for shortages of some products, which it blamed on “media reports related to the earthquake.” The sign read: “Potential sales restrictions are coming,” adding that bottled water had already been rationed due to “unstable” supplies. The website of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten listed portable toilets, preserved food and bottled water as the most popular items. Some retailers along the Pacific coast also reported strong demand for similar supplies in light of a potential disaster, according to local media.
Experts divided
The warning concerns the Nankai Trough “subduction zone” between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean, where strong earthquakes have occurred in the past. The Japanese government has estimated that the next major earthquake could strike in the next 30 years with a probability of about 70%. Experts stress, however, that the risk, while high, is still low.
The magnitude 6.8 earthquake was recorded off the southeastern coast of the Russian island of Sakhalin, north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, according to the website of the U.S. Tsunami Warning System, which has not issued a tsunami warning. The U.S. Geological Survey also reported the earthquake – 150 km east of Dolinsk and at a depth of 406.5 km – but estimates that it had a magnitude of 6.5. The shock was felt in Japan and Russia.
Japanese PM cancels Central Asia trip
On Friday, after more recent high-intensity tremors, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida canceled a trip to Central Asia after scientists warned of a possible “mega-earthquake” in the area. “As the prime minister with the highest responsibility for crisis management, I have decided that I will stay in Japan for at least a week,” Kishida told reporters.