'Adhere to instructions, don't panic': India issues advisory amid Japan's 'megaquake' warning

Following the warnings of a ‘megaquake’ in Japan in the coming days, India has asked its nationals to adhere to the government’s instructions and not panic.

Following a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Japan on Thursday, experts have said a ‘megaquake’ may strike Japan in the coming days. An earthquake of over 8-magnitude is called a megaquake. This is the first-of-its-kind warning that Japan has issued.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Embassy of India in Japan asked nationals to follow the advisory and instructions of the Japanese government and not panic.

“All Indian citizens in Japan are advised to adhere to warnings and instructions promulgated by the Government of Japan and local governments from time to time. https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/index.html?lang=en. The Government of Japan has further reassured that there is no need to panic and the advisory is only meant for enhancing preparedness,” said the embassy.

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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 advisory further said that updates will be posted on the mission’s website and social media accounts as the situation evolves.

What we know of Japan’s ‘megaquake’?

Following the 7.1-magnitude earthquake, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) for the first time warned that there was a higher-than-usual risk of a ‘megaquake’ of above 8-magnitude earthquake.

This huge earthquake may occur along the Nankai Trough off the coast of southern Japan, said the warning.

Notably, it is just a probability and there is no certainty that this huge earthquake will emerge. To be sure, earthquakes cannot be predicted like rainfall or cyclones.

But if such a huge earthquake does occur, the JMA said “strong shaking and large tsunamis would be generated”, according to The Guardian.

“The likelihood of a new major earthquake is higher than normal, but this is not an indication that a major earthquake will definitely occur during a specific period of time,” said the JMA.

The newspaper noted that the Nankai Trough is an 800-kilometre (500-mile) undersea region which has witnessed destructive earthquakes of magnitude 8 or 9 every 100 to 200 years.

If such an earthquake comes, kill hundreds of thousands of people may be killed and Japan could see a trillion-dollar damage, said the newspaper.