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This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment

Japan risks 199,000 deaths in overdue megaquake amid fresh tremor swarm

Authorities are urging residents to review evacuation plans as simulations suggest a ‘maximum-class’ winter night quake could trap thousands

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A house burns after a powerful earthquake hit Aomori, northeastern Japan, early on Tuesday last week. Photo: Jiji Press/EPA
Julian Ryall
A cluster of tremors off Japan’s northeastern coast has raised alarms among seismologists, as a new government study warns that up to 199,000 people could be killed if a magnitude 9 earthquake strikes.

The most recent quake, a magnitude 4 offshore tremor recorded on Monday morning off eastern Hokkaido, was small and caused no reported damage.

Yet authorities are urging residents to remain vigilant and review their evacuation plans after a succession of smaller offshore quakes in recent days off Aomori and Fukushima prefectures, both within the wider Tohoku region.

02:38

Dozens hurt after magnitude 7.5 quake in northeastern Japan

Dozens hurt after magnitude 7.5 quake in northeastern Japan
Dozens of minor quakes have struck off the coast in the past week, following a magnitude 7.5 earthquake late last Monday that injured at least 34 people and damaged properties across Aomori prefecture.
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The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned of the increased possibility of a magnitude 8 or stronger event occurring within days, in a region that still bears scars from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people.

The latest seismic swarm coincides with the release of an alarming update from the Central Disaster Management Council, which projects massive casualties and destruction should a “maximum-class” earthquake occur along two major ocean trenches off Japan’s northeast coast.

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The Japan Trench, running parallel to Ibaraki, Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, and the Chishima Trench, extending off Iwate, Aomori and Hokkaido, are each thought to produce cataclysmic quakes every 300 to 400 years.

A car is seen stranded on a stretch of collapsed road in Aomori prefecture, northeastern Japan, last Tuesday following a powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake. Photo: Jiji Press/EPA
A car is seen stranded on a stretch of collapsed road in Aomori prefecture, northeastern Japan, last Tuesday following a powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake. Photo: Jiji Press/EPA
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