Japan issues megaquake warning after earthquake PM cancels four-day trip

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck near the coast of Kyushu at 07:43 UTC (GMT+9) on August 8, 2024, has led the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to issue its first-ever warning for a potential megaquake along the Nankai Trough subduction zone, which extends along Japan's eastern coast.

The JMA stated, "Based on an analysis of the relationship between this earthquake and the Nankai Trough, it is believed that the likelihood of a large-scale earthquake occurring in the potential source area of the Nankai Trough is relatively higher than usual, Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

We urge the public to implement disaster prevention measures and stay tuned for future advisories from the government and local authorities."

According to the JMA, this earthquake was a reverse fault type with a pressure axis oriented west-northwest to east-southeast. It was assessed as a moment magnitude 7.0 event, occurring along a segment of the boundary between the land plate and the Philippine Sea plate within the anticipated focal area of the Nankai Trough earthquake.

Globally, the occurrence of a moment magnitude 8.0 or higher earthquake within seven days following a moment magnitude 7.0 or higher earthquake in the same region is estimated to happen about once in several hundred cases.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on August 9 canceled his planned four-day trip to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, as the weather agency warned that the risk of a potential massive earthquake in a vast area of the Pacific stretching from southwestern to central Japan has increased.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the first such advisory for areas around the Nankai Trough hours after a magnitude-7.1 quake hit the country's southwest on August 8.

He was set to attend Japan's first-ever summit with the Central Asian nations -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on August 9 night and issue a joint declaration.

In Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar on August 12, the Japanese leader was slated to meet with the country's President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene.