The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued its first advisory of a megaquake, along the Nankai Trough, which is a 900-km undersea fault that runs from Kyushu to Shizuoka, in August 2024. The Japanese government estimates suggest that there is 70-80 % earthquake probability near Nankai Trough.
Japan megaquake warning: In what comes as a shocking estimate, a ‘megaquake’ is feared to rock Japan, leading to a subsequent tsunami, resulting in almost 298,000 deaths and damage that can cost up to USD 1.8 trillion, the government report said on Monday, according to NHK World report. The megaquake warning comes as Myanmar and Thailand grapple with a devastating earthquake of 7.7 magnitude. The Japanese government’s estimate adds that the megaquake is likely to see 1.23 million people evacuating the impacted areas, which is approximately 10 per cent of the country’s population.
What is Nankai Trough?
Earlier in August 2024, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued its first advisory of a megaquake along the Nankai Trough, which is a 900-km undersea fault that runs from Kyushu to Shizuoka.
Japan has taken up the issue with utmost seriousness, given the volatile tectonic activity, where the Philippine Sea Plate undergoes a subduction beneath the Eurasian Plate. This happens to be the continental plate Japan sits on. Moreover, the tectonic activity is expected to be storing energy, giving rise to earthquakes up to magnitude 9.1.
What are Japanese govt estimates?
The Japanese government estimates suggest that the Nankai Trough has a probability of 70-80 per cent of earthquakes in the upcoming three decades. According to historical estimates, megaquakes occur after a gap of every 100-200 years. The last Nankai Trough quake off Shikoku in 1946 recorded a preliminary magnitude of 8.0 and killed more than 1,300 people.
In 2013, a government disaster prevention team said a magnitude 9.1 Nankai Trough quake could generate a tsunami exceeding 10 metres within minutes, killing as many as 323,000 people, destroying more than 2 million buildings and causing economic damage of more than 220 trillion yen (USD 1.5 trillion) to large swaths of Japan’s Pacific coast.
Myanmar, Thailand grappling with devastating earthquake
The warning in Japan comes as a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit midday Friday, toppling thousands of buildings, collapsing bridges and buckling roads.
So far, 2,886 people have been reported dead in Myanmar and another 4,639 injured, according to state television MRTV, but local reports suggest much higher figures.
The earthquake also rocked neighbouring Thailand, causing the collapse of a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok. One body was removed from the rubble early Wednesday, raising the death toll in Bangkok to 22 with 34 injured, primarily at the construction site.
(With agency inputs)
Also Read | What is Operation Brahma and why India chose this name for Myanmar earthquake response? Here’s what MEA says
