Japan’s Kishida Cancels Asia Trip after Scientists Urge Preparations for a Possible ‘Megaquake’

 A house is seen collapsed in Oosaki town, Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, following Thursday's powerful earthquake. (Kyodo News via AP)
A house is seen collapsed in Oosaki town, Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, following Thursday's powerful earthquake. (Kyodo News via AP)
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Japan’s Kishida Cancels Asia Trip after Scientists Urge Preparations for a Possible ‘Megaquake’

 A house is seen collapsed in Oosaki town, Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, following Thursday's powerful earthquake. (Kyodo News via AP)
A house is seen collapsed in Oosaki town, Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, following Thursday's powerful earthquake. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida canceled a planned trip to Central Asia on Friday to lead the government’s response after scientists urged people to prepare for a possible “megaquake” off the country’s southern coast.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its first ever “megaquake advisory” on Thursday warning of a possible future major earthquake triggered by the underwater Nankai Trough, after a magnitude 7.1 quake shook just off the eastern coast of Kyushu island earlier in the day. The trough, which runs along Japan’s Pacific coast, was the source of past devastating earthquakes.

Seismologists at the agency held an emergency meeting after Thursday’s quake to analyze whether it had affected the nearby trough and reassessed the risk of a major quake. They urged people to observe high caution levels for about a week.

Thursday’s quake injured 16 people, most of them slightly, and caused no major damage. Tsunami advisories were issued for several areas but lifted hours later.

Kishida announced that he had canceled his planned Aug. 9-12 trip to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia as a result of the advisory.

“I have decided to stay in the country at least for about a week to make sure that government measures and communication are fully in place,” Kishida said.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency instructed 707 municipalities designated as at risk from a Nankai Trough quake to review their disaster response measures and evacuation plans.

The meteorological agency’s first “megaquake advisory” sparked public unease and prompted local government offices, rail operators and other agencies to begin introducing precautionary measures, affecting holiday travelers during the summer “Obon” holiday week.

Some municipalities even closed parks or cancelled events for the coming week, although officials and experts stressed that there was no need to shut down any normal activity. They said the advisory was aimed only at raising awareness of an increased probability over the long term, and that it was not for any specific timeframe or location.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi called on people to carry on daily social and economic activities such as traveling.

Still, towns such as Higashi Osaka called on residents not to engage in “unnecessary and non-urgent” travel in case of a major quake. Other municipalities opened shelters, called on residents to stock up emergency food and water and to discuss evacuation plans among family members.

The popular seaside town of Shirahama in Wakayama prefecture said its four beaches, outdoor hot springs, parks and other facilities would be closed for the next week. An annual fireworks festival planned for Saturday was canceled.

Aoshima, another popular beach resort in Miyazaki prefecture, which was hardest hit by Thursday’s quake, also was closed.

Rail companies serving the region said their trains will operate at slightly reduced speeds as a precautionary measure.

In a 2013 report, a government disaster prevention team said that if a magnitude 9.1 quake struck near the southern coast, it could generate a tsunami exceeding 10 meters (33 feet) with a death toll of more than 300,000 and economic damage of more than 220 trillion yen ($1.5 trillion) in a worst case scenario.



North Korean Leader Says Thousands of Flood Victims Will Be Brought to Capital for Temporary Care

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks as he visits an air force helicopter unit to praise the troops for helping rescue people from recent floods, at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks as he visits an air force helicopter unit to praise the troops for helping rescue people from recent floods, at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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North Korean Leader Says Thousands of Flood Victims Will Be Brought to Capital for Temporary Care

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks as he visits an air force helicopter unit to praise the troops for helping rescue people from recent floods, at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks as he visits an air force helicopter unit to praise the troops for helping rescue people from recent floods, at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea will not seek outside help to recover from floods that devastated areas near the country’s border with China, leader Kim Jong Un said as he ordered officials to bring thousands of displaced residents to the capital to provide them better care.
Kim said it would take about two to three months to rebuild homes and stabilize the areas affected by floods. Until then, his government plans to accommodate some 15,400 people — a group that includes mothers, children, older adults and disabled soldiers — at facilities in Pyongyang, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday.
KCNA said Kim made the comments during a two-day trip to the northwestern town of Uiju through Friday to meet flood victims and discuss recovery efforts. The agency gave Kim its typical effusive praise, saying the visit showed his “sacred leadership” and “warm love and ennobling spirit of making devoted service for the people.”
State media reports said heavy rains in late July left 4,100 houses, 7,410 acres of agricultural fields, and numerous other public buildings, structures, roads and railways flooded in the northwestern city of Sinuiju and the neighboring town of Uiju.
The North has not provided information on deaths, but Kim was quoted blaming public officials who had neglected disaster prevention for causing “the casualty that cannot be allowed”, The Associated Press said.
Traditional allies Russia and China, as well as international aid groups, have offered to provide North Korea with relief supplies, but the North hasn’t publicly expressed a desire to receive them.
“Expressing thanks to various foreign countries and international organizations for their offer of humanitarian support, (Kim) said what we regard as the best in all realms and processes of state affairs is the firm trust in the people and the way of tackling problems thoroughly based on self-reliance,” KCNA said.
Kim made similar comments earlier in the week after Russian President Vladimir Putin offered help, expressing his gratitude but saying that the North has established its own rehabilitation plans and will only ask for Moscow’s assistance if later needed.
While rival South Korea has also offered to send aid supplies, it’s highly unlikely that the North would accept its offer. Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest in years over the North’s growing nuclear ambitions and the South’s expansion of combined military exercises with the United States and Japan.
The North had also rejected South Korea’s offers for help while battling a COVID-19 outbreak in 2022.
During his recent visit to Uiju, Kim repeated an accusation that South Korea exaggerated the North’s flood damages and casualties, which he decried as a “smear campaign” and a “grave provocation” against his government. Some South Korean media reports claim that the North’s flood damages are likely worse than what state media have acknowledged, and that the number of deaths could exceed 1,000.