Japanese urged not to panic buy amid mega-earthquake fears

Japanese authorities urged people not to stockpile supplies as fears of a possible powerful earthquake sparked a surge in demand for emergency kits and everyday items on Saturday.

In its first warning of its kind, the weather agency said the chance of a powerful earthquake was higher following a 7.1-magnitude tremor that struck midday on Thursday, injuring 14 people.

A Tokyo supermarket posted a sign Saturday apologizing to customers for shortages of some products, which it said were due to “media reports regarding the earthquake.”

“Potential sales restrictions will be introduced,” the sign said, adding that bottled water was already rationed due to “unstable” supplies.

On Saturday morning, the website of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten placed portable toilets, canned food and bottled water at the top of its list of most desired items.

Some retailers along the Pacific Coast have also seen similarly high demand for disaster relief supplies, according to local media reports.

The warning concerns the Nankai Trench “subduction zone” between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean, where powerful earthquakes have occurred in the past.

There have been devastating magnitude 8 or 9 earthquakes there every century or two, and the central government has previously estimated that the chance of another major quake in the next 30 years is about 70 percent.

However, experts emphasize that the risk, although elevated, is still low, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries appeals to people “to refrain from excessive accumulation of goods.”

A magnitude 5.3 quake struck the Kanazawa region near Tokyo on Friday, setting off cellphone alarms and temporarily halting high-speed train traffic.

Most seismologists believe Friday’s quake was not directly related to the powerful Nankai Trench earthquake, citing distance.

Spam exploiting fears of a major earthquake is quickly appearing on social media platform X.

Public broadcaster NHK said that every few seconds, spam disguised as helpful earthquake advice is posted on the X platform. In reality, the links take users to pornography or e-commerce sites.

According to NHK, such posts “make it difficult for users to access reliable earthquake information.”

The Japanese archipelago, located at the junction of four major tectonic plates, is home to 125 million people. It experiences about 1,500 earthquakes a year, most of which are mild.

On January 1, a 7.6-magnitude quake and strong aftershocks struck the Noto Peninsula on the Sea of ​​Japan coast, killing at least 318 people and destroying buildings and roads.