Japanese urged not to hoard as fears of possible megaquake spread
Japanese authorities have urged people not to excessively hoard as fears of a potential megaquake lead to a surge in demand for disaster kits and everyday essentials.
In its first advisory of this kind on Saturday, the weather agency indicated that a colossal earthquake is more probable following a magnitude 7.1 seismic activity in the south on Thursday, which resulted in 14 injuries.
At a Tokyo supermarket on Saturday, a sign was posted apologizing to customers for the lack of certain products, linking the shortage to “quake-related media reports.”
“Potential sales restrictions are on the way,” the sign noted, adding bottled water was already being rationed due to “unstable” procurement.
On Saturday morning, Rakuten’s website listed portable toilets. The Japanese e-commerce giant named food, and bottled water as the top sought-after items.
Local media reported that some retailers along the Pacific coastline also noted high demand for disaster-related supplies.
The advisory concerns the Nankai Trough “subduction zone” in the Pacific Ocean, where huge earthquakes have previously occurred between two tectonic plates.
Destructive quakes of magnitude eight or nine have occurred in this zone every century or so, and the government in Japan has previously estimated a 70 percent chance of another major quake occurring within the next 30 years.
Back on January 1, a 7.6-sized quake and powerful subsequent tremors jolted the Noto Peninsula on the Sea of Japan coast, claiming the lives of at least 318 people, toppling buildings and knocking out roads.
Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year and the vast majority causes no damage.
However, a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake off northeastern Japan in 2011 triggered a tsunami and left around 18,500 people dead or missing.
It also swamped the Fukushima atomic plant, causing one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.
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