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A collapsed house is seen following an earthquake in Osaki town, Kagoshima prefecture, southwestern Japan, August 8, 2024. (Top Left) Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (Reuters)
India advises its citizens in Japan to follow local guidelines amid Japan’s emergency bulletin for a potential Nankai Trough earthquake, with heightened alert and preparedness measures
The Indian embassy in Tokyo on Friday all citizens in Japan to closely follow local guidelines and updates in response to a recent earthquake warning issued by Japanese authorities.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued on Thursday its first-ever advisory of the risk of a huge earthquake on the country’s Pacific coast, following a magnitude 7.1 tremor that struck the southwestern island of Kyushu the same day.
“The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued an emergency bulletin on the Nankai Trough Earthquake (warning a massive earthquake). The Government of Japan held a disaster response meeting and established a state of alert and has urged the citizens to reaffirm their earthquake preparedness on a daily basis,” the Indian mission said in the advisory.
The Govt of Japan has promulgated an advisory for preparedness for Natural Disasters. All Indian citizens in Japan are advised to follow the advisories promulgated by the Japanese authorities and monitor the website and social media handles of Embassy of India Tokyo. pic.twitter.com/Ef5lD08Yjb— India in Japanインド大使館 (@IndianEmbTokyo) August 9, 2024
The Japanese government has convened a disaster response meeting and declared a state of alert. After an unprecedented advisory, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cancelled plans to visit Central Asia and Mongolia this weekend. “I have decided to stay in the country for the next week or so to ensure our preparations and communications are in order,” Kishida told a press conference.
“But it is the first time it is issued and I believe people would be feeling anxious about it,” he added. “Consequently, I have decided to cancel my planned visit to Central Asia and Mongolia.” The Japanese government may seek to hold the meetings with regional leaders online instead, public broadcaster NHK said.
The meteorological agency warned of a higher probability of a huge earthquake in the Nankai trough, an ocean-floor trench running along Japan’s Pacific coast where previous quakes have triggered enormous tsunamis. With the new advisory, that probability has risen to a one-in-several-hundred chance, according to the JMA.
Some supermarkets in Shizuoka are reporting supply shortages after customers snapped up bottled water and reheatable rice packs, according to NHK. The NHK report showed a sign at a supermarket reading: “We are currently out of bottled water following reports of the Nankai trough earthquake” and apologising to customers.
Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries. More than 15,000 people were killed in a magnitude 9 quake in 2011 that triggered a devastating tsunami and triple reactor meltdowns at a nuclear power plant.
(With agency inputs)
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