“Super earthquake” panic spreads, Japanese people are urged to avoid panic buying

TOKYO: Japanese authorities urge people not to stockpile amid concerns A “super-large earthquake” may occur This triggered a surge in demand for disaster kits and daily necessities on Saturday (August 10).

The weather bureau said in its first such warning that Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake On Thursday, a fire in the south of the country injured 14 people.

On Saturday, a Tokyo supermarket posted a notice apologizing to customers for a shortage of some products due to “earthquake-related media coverage.”

“Sales restrictions may be implemented,” the sign read, adding that bottled water had been rationed due to “erratic” procurement.

Portable toilets, fresh food and bottled water topped the list of most sought-after items on Saturday morning, according to the website of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten.

Some retailers along the Pacific Coast also reported strong demand for similar disaster relief supplies, according to local media reports.

The warning involves the Nankai Trough “subduction zone” between two major Pacific plates, where large earthquakes have occurred in the past.

Low risk

Every century or two, destructive earthquakes of magnitude 8 or 9 occur here. The central government has previously estimated that the probability of the next major earthquake occurring within the next 30 years is about 70%.

However, experts stressed that although the risk is high, it is still low, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries urged people “not to excessively stockpile goods.”

A 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck the Kanazawa area near Tokyo on Friday, triggering emergency alerts on mobile phones and causing a brief suspension of Shinkansen operations.

Most seismologists believe that Friday’s earthquake has no direct connection to the Nankai Trough earthquake, citing the distance.

On social media platform X, spam posts that exploit people’s fear of a major earthquake quickly emerged.

NHK said spam messages appeared on X every few seconds, posing as helpful earthquake-related tips but containing links that directed users to pornographic or e-commerce sites.

Such posts “make it increasingly difficult for users to obtain authentic information about the earthquake,” NHK said.

The Japanese archipelago, which sits on four major plates and has a population of 125 million, experiences about 1,500 earthquakes each year, most of which are small.

It is January 1stA magnitude 7.6 earthquake and strong aftershocks struck the Noto Peninsula on the Sea of ​​Japan coast, killing at least 318 people, collapsing buildings and blocking roads.