In Tokyo, some residents were increasing their disaster preparedness.
Tokyo:
Authorities in Japan urged people to avoid hoarding, as anxiety over a possible mega-earthquake triggered a surge Saturday in demand for disaster kits and daily necessities.
In its first statement, the meteorological agency said a large earthquake was more likely following a 7.1-magnitude shake in the south on Thursday that left 14 people injured.
In a Tokyo supermarket on Saturday, a sign was posted apologizing to customers for shortages of certain products, attributed to “media reports related to the earthquake.”
“Potential sales restrictions are on the way,” the sign said, adding that bottled water was already being rationed due to “unstable” purchases.
On Saturday morning, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten’s website showed portable toilets, preserved foods and bottled water topping the list of most-searched items.
In Tokyo, some residents were increasing their disaster preparedness.
Bar employee Kokoro Takeuchi said she ordered bottled water online after Thursday’s quake.
“I’m very worried,” the 27-year-old told AFP.
“The bar where I work is underground, so if an earthquake suddenly hits, there’s a good chance we won’t be able to escape. So I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to evacuate,” she said.
But others were more resigned to the inevitability of the megaquake.
“Of course I’m worried, but thinking too much won’t get you anywhere,” Mika Nakagawa, 34, a worker at the company, told AFP.
“If that happens, then that’s it,” she said.
Some retailers along the Pacific coast have also reported similar disaster-related supplies in high demand, according to local media reports.
The statement concerns the Nankai Trough “subduction zone” between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean, where massive earthquakes have occurred in the past.
– Low risk –
It has been the site of destructive earthquakes of magnitude eight or nine every century or two, with the central government previously estimating that the next major earthquake would occur within the next 30 years with approximately 70 percent probability.
Experts, however, emphasize that the risk, although high, is still low, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has urged people to “refrain from excessively accumulating assets”.
A 5.3-magnitude tremor shook the Kanagawa region near Tokyo on Friday, triggering emergency alarms on cellphones and briefly suspending bullet train operations.
Most seismologists believe Friday’s quake was not directly linked to the Nankai Trough megaearthquake, citing distance.
On social media platform X, spam posts capitalizing on fears about the mega-earthquake are growing rapidly.
Public broadcaster NHK said spam disguised as useful earthquake-related tips was being posted every few seconds on X, with links directing users to pornographic or e-commerce sites.
These posts are “making it increasingly difficult for users to obtain genuine information about earthquakes,” NHK said.
Situated atop four major tectonic plates, the Japanese archipelago of 125 million people sees about 1,500 earthquakes every year, most of them minor.
On January 1, a 7.6 magnitude quake and strong tremors struck the Noto Peninsula on the coast of the Sea of Japan, killing at least 318 people, collapsing buildings and destroying roads.
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