Japan PM cancels visit to Central Asia, Mongolia after earthquake warning

Written by Sakura Murakami

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday cancelled plans to visit Central Asia and Mongolia this week after an unprecedented warning that the risk of a major earthquake on the Pacific coast was higher than usual.

Japan's Meteorological Agency on Thursday issued its first-ever warning of a major earthquake risk along the country's Pacific coast, following a 7.1-magnitude quake that struck the southwestern island of Kyushu the same day.

“I have decided to stay in the country for the next week or so to make sure our preparations and communications are in good shape,” Kishida said at a news conference, although the advisory did not set a time frame for the potential event or call for evacuations.

“But this is the first time this decision has been made and I think people may be concerned about it,” he added.

“As a result, I have decided to cancel my planned visit to Central Asia and Mongolia.”

Japan's public broadcaster NHK said the government may seek to hold meetings with regional leaders online instead. The visit to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia was originally scheduled to run from Friday to Monday.

The Meteorological Agency has warned of the possibility of a major earthquake in the Nankai region, an ocean trench running along Japan's Pacific coast where previous quakes have triggered massive tsunamis.

The warning did not indicate an earthquake had occurred, but encouraged people to prepare to evacuate if necessary.

New Consultation

Typically, Japan estimates the chance of a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake occurring around the basin in the next 30 years at 70% to 80%, which is about a one-in-a-thousand chance of an earthquake occurring there in any given week.

With the new warning, that chance has risen to one in several hundred, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Some supermarkets in Shizuoka are running low on supplies after customers rushed to buy bottled water and reheatable rice packets, NHK reported.

A NHK report showed a sign at a supermarket reading: “We are currently out of bottled water after reports of the Nankai Trough earthquake,” apologizing to customers.

“There is no stock left because everyone seems to be stocking up on these items,” one customer told NHK. “I will stock up on more on a regular basis.”

The current alert system came into effect in 2019, as the government sought to create a way to put the public on alert for potential earthquakes despite the difficulty of predicting when one would occur.

There are two levels of alert – the lower level advises people to prepare to evacuate, while the higher level advises people in at-risk areas to begin evacuating.

Some businesses and local authorities have also taken precautionary measures in response to the alert, as Japan prepares to enter the summer holiday season.

The coastal city of Shirahama in Wakayama Prefecture has closed its beaches for a week and canceled a planned fireworks display.

JR Tokai is running some of its bullet trains at slower speeds in certain areas. Japan's largest energy company, JERA, is reviewing its communications and emergency procedures with its fuel transportation companies.

Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries. More than 15,000 people were killed in a 9.0-magnitude earthquake in 2011, which triggered a devastating tsunami and caused the meltdown of three reactors at a nuclear power plant.

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami, additional reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Kim Coghill)

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