Japan: 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred on Thursday raising warnings for tsunami

On Thursday 8^th of August, the authorities of Japan, for the first time in their history predicted the possibility of a strong earthquake to strike. Therefore, they issued a warning to inform the civilians to be cautious, but they didn’t rule out an evacuation. The warning was followed by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake at the southern coast of Japan at around 4:43 p.m. local time. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the epicenter of the quake was at the eastern coast of Kyushu near the Nankai Trough, while the depth was approximately at 30km.

The massive earthquake was followed by tsunami warnings as the authorities predicted waves up to 1m. Specifically, due to reports, 30 minutes after the earthquake tsunami waves up to 50cm created along of Kyushu's southern coast and Shikoku Island. As of present, except for a few windows that were broken at Miyazaki Airport, no other significant damage or injury has been reported. However, due to the nuclear operations in Japan, authorities promptly initiated inspections by nuclear plant operators to ensure public safety and identify any potential damage at the stations located in Kyushu and Shikoku. 

Nevertheless, because Japan is known for her seismic activity as it is situated within the Pacific Ring of Fire and is one of the most prone to earthquakes countries, seismology scientists are concern about the impact of this quake in the area as its epicenter was near Nankai Trough. Nankai Trough is a seismic hotspot that had triggered very strong and catastrophic quakes in the past that resulted in thousands of fatalities.

It should be noted that its location is at the fault line that runs from Suruga Bay in central Japan to the Hyuganada Sea in Kyushu. For this area scientists had already predicted that there is a 70% to 80% possibility that an 8 or 9 magnitude earthquake is likely to strike the next 30 years. They believe that if such an earthquake occurs, the estimated deaths will be up to 200,000 people, while it will trigger a catastrophic tsunami.