Japan Lifts Megaquake Warning After Week of Calm Seismic Activity

Tokyo: Japan has ended its warning about the risk of a major earthquake, one week after a strong tremor near the Nankai Trough seabed zone led to the country's first-ever megaquake advisory. The government says there are no unusual seismic activities in the area, allowing citizens to return to normal life.

On August 8, a panel from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned of a "relatively higher chance" of a massive earthquake in the Nankai Trough area, following a magnitude-7.1 quake in southwestern Japan. This advisory was not a prediction but urged residents in many western and central regions to review their evacuation plans.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had to cancel a diplomatic trip to Central Asia and Mongolia to focus on disaster management.

On August 9, a magnitude-5.3 earthquake struck near Tokyo, but it was outside the Nankai Trough zone, causing only minor injuries.

Central Japan Railway has ended its precautionary measures of slowing down trains near coastal areas, though high-speed train services between Tokyo and Nagoya were canceled due to Typhoon Ampil.

Japan estimates a 70%-80% chance of a Nankai Trough megaquake occurring in the next 30 years. The worst-case scenario includes 323,000 deaths, 2.38 million buildings destroyed, and 220 trillion yen ($1.50 trillion) in economic damage.

Japan is highly prone to earthquakes. A magnitude-9 quake in 2011 killed over 15,000 people and caused a massive tsunami and nuclear plant meltdowns in northeast Japan.