Summary:
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cancels trip to Central Asia due to increased earthquake risk.
- A recent 7.1 magnitude quake in Kyushu has heightened concerns about a potential “megaquake” along the Nankai Trough.
- Kishida will remain in Japan to oversee crisis management as experts issue warnings about future seismic activity.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has canceled his planned trip to Central Asia after experts warned of an increased risk of a major earthquake along Japan’s Pacific coast. This decision follows a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the southwestern island of Kyushu on Thursday, injuring eight people and prompting a tsunami warning.
Kishida, who was scheduled to visit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia, has decided to remain in Japan for at least a week. He stated that his presence is crucial for managing the ongoing crisis, especially given the heightened earthquake risk.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued a warning about the possibility of a significant earthquake along the Nankai Trough, a major fault line where tectonic plates converge. The JMA’s advisory follows the catastrophic magnitude 9.0 earthquake in 2011, which resulted in a devastating tsunami and nuclear disaster.
The Nankai Trough, which has a history of triggering giant tsunamis, has not experienced a major quake since December 21, 1946. Despite Japan’s frequent seismic activity, the nation has advanced building techniques and emergency response measures to mitigate the impact of such events.
The government had previously estimated a 70 percent chance of a major quake occurring within the next 30 years, potentially affecting a vast area of Japan’s Pacific coastline and threatening hundreds of thousands of lives.
