File Image
Japan Earthquake, Tsunami prediction: A government panel in Japan has predicted a strong earthquake and tsunami in the country. The warning, made by a group of experts, is based on a "worst-case scenario". The experts said that the mega-earthquake centered around the Japan Trench and the Kuril Trench off northern parts of the country could be "imminent". According to scientists and experts, the Japan Times report said tsunami waves as high as 30 meters could be triggered if an earthquake of magnitude 9 occurs along the sea trenches of the pacific coast.
Japan Earthquake, Tsunami Prediction
The panel said it was difficult to calculate the probability such an earthquake could occur. According to the panel's estimate, the earthquake along the Chishima Trench could have a magnitude of 9.3. The report said massive tsunamis have hit the region every 300 to 400 years with the latest observed in the 17th century. The report said Japan Trench extends from waters off the coast of Hokkaido to the Boso Peninsula in China Prefecture, east of Tokyo, and the Kuril Trench stretches from the sea off Tokachi on the country's northernmost main island to the Kuril Islands in Russia's Far East. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami which devastates northeastern Japan in 2011 and left over 15,000 people were also focussed on the Japan trench, the report mentioned.
Quoting Seismologist Kenji Satake of the University of Tokyo, also the head of the panel, the report said he pointed out that a massive earthquake and tsunami, though not often, would certainly happen in the region because such quakes have occurred there several times in the past 6,000 years.
Japan Earthquake, Tsunami prediction: Damage predicted in these regions
The latest panel simulation covered damage to seven prefectures -- Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba. The forecast predicted that Miyako in Iwate Prefecture could be hit by the largest Tsunami of 29.7 meters, followed by the Hokkaido town of Erimo at 27.9 meters.
Apart from this, the report said the area around Tokyo Electric Power Company Holding Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant that was crippled by the 2011 disaster is projected to be submerged as well. The coast of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures could be hit by a 5 to 20-meter tsunami, it said.
It said that tsunami could also hit parts of Aomori Prefecture facing the Sea of Japan as well as Mutsu Bay, with the prefectural government office and Aomori city hall predicted to be under more than 1-meter of water.
