The meteorological authorities Japan warned of the possibility of a “mega earthquake” after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake which happened on Thursday. In light of this, the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishidacancelled a planned trip to Central Asia.
This is the first time that the authorities of the Asian country have issued a warning of this type. Following the implementation of a new alert system following the devastating earthquake that hit the country in 2011. Kishida said he was staying in the country “for at least a week” to “assume the highest responsibility in matters of crisis management“.
Alert for a possible “mega-earthquake in Japan”
The notice of “mega earthquake” was issued this Friday morning by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The announcement detailed that “the possibility of a earthquake of great intensity is higher than normal“But this does not indicate that a large earthquake will occur with certainty.”
Previously, the Japanese government had predicted that there was a 70% chance that a mega-earthquake to shake the country in the next three decadesThe shock could affect a significant part of the Japanese Pacific coast and threaten some 300,000 peopleaccording to its weather experts.
The country is located at the crossroads of several tectonic plateswhich makes it one of the nations with the greatest seismic activity in its territory in the entire world, with approximately 1,500 tremors per yearmostly of low magnitude. Despite this, the most intense earthquakes leave little damage in this countrysince it does decades Governments implement earthquake-resistant building regulations and educate their more than 125 million inhabitants on how to react to these situations.
The earthquake that hit Japan
Tense hours have been experienced in Japan since Thursday, when the The government has issued a tsunami warning following a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake off the east coast of the main island of Kyushu.Following this, authorities urged the population located in the affected areas to immediately move to higher and safer areas for shelter.
The earthquake was recorded in the Hyuganada Sea – at a depth of 30 kilometers – and JMA detailed that the same reached a magnitude of 7.1. Due to this seismic activity, They cracked streets and incidents were recorded in different parts of the city.
The phenomenon also prompted authorities to issue tsunami warnings for Miyazaki, Ehime and Kochi prefectures, as well as the coasts of Oita and Kagoshima. Waves up to one metre high are expected.
Source: Ambito
