Japan's PM cancels Central Asia, Mongolia trip after earthquake risk warning

By Sakura Murakami

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday cancelled plans to visit Central Asia and Mongolia this weekend, following an unprecedented advisory that the risk of a major Pacific coast earthquake was higher than usual.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued on Thursday its first-ever advisory of the risk of a huge earthquake on the country's Pacific coast, following a magnitude 7.1 tremor that struck the southwestern island of Kyushu the same day.

"I have decided to stay in the country for the next week or so to ensure our preparations and communications are in order," Kishida told a press conference, although the advisory did not give a timeframe for the potential event or call for evacuations.

"But it is the first time it is issued and I believe people would be feeling anxious about it," he added.

"Consequently, I have decided to cancel my planned visit to Central Asia and Mongolia."

The government may seek to hold the meetings with regional leaders online instead, public broadcaster NHK said. The visit to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia was originally set to run from Friday to Monday.

The meteorological agency warned of a higher probability of a huge earthquake in the Nankai trough, an ocean-floor trench running along Japan's Pacific coast where previous quakes have triggered enormous tsunamis.

It did not indicate a quake would happen, but encouraged people to be ready to evacuate if necessary.

NEW ADVISORY

Normally, Japan estimates the probability of an earthquake of magnitude 8 or 9 happening around the trough in the next 30 years at 70% to 80%, which equates to a one-in-a-thousand chance of an earthquake there in any given week.

With the new advisory, that probability has risen to a one-in-several-hundred chance, according to the JMA.

Some supermarkets in Shizuoka are reporting supply shortages after customers snapped up bottled water and reheatable rice packs, according to NHK.

The NHK report showed a sign at a supermarket reading: "We are currently out of bottled water following reports of the Nankai trough earthquake" and apologising to customers.

"There wasn't any left as it seems everyone's stocking up... I'll be stocking up more regularly," one customer told NHK.

The current alert system came into effect in 2019, as the government sought to establish a way to put the public on alert for potential earthquakes despite the difficulty of predicting when one might strike.

There are two alert levels - the lower advisory advises people to be prepared to evacuate, while the higher warning advises those in danger-prone areas to start evacuating.

Some companies and local authorities have also taken precautionary measures in response to the alert, just as Japan is set to enter its summer holiday season.

Seaside resort town Shirahama in Wakayama prefecture closed its beaches for a week and cancelled a planned fireworks display.

JR Tokai is operating some of its bullet trains at slower speeds in specific areas. Japan's top power utility JERA is going over its communication and emergency procedures with its fuel carriers.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. More than 15,000 people were killed in a magnitude 9 quake in 2011 that triggered a devastating tsunami and triple reactor meltdowns at a nuclear power plant.

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami, additional reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Kim Coghill)