JAPAN’S second-largest island is seeing terrifying levels of seismological activity identical to those monitored before the devastating 2011 earthquake struck which claimed 18,000 lives, an expert on tsunamis has warned.
By ALICE SCARSI
PUBLISHED: 13:48, Thu, May 9, 2019 | UPDATED: 14:01, Thu, May 9, 2019
A megaquake in the eastern side of Hokkaido island is overdue and could strike at any time, a series of studies have shown. Masanobu Shishikura, an expert on so-called tsunami deposits who heads a group of researchers at the Government-affiliated National Institute of Advanced Industrial Service and Technology, said: “Eastern Hokkaido is in a situation resembling the Tohoku region before the Great East Japan Earthquake. We should be fully prepared.” The Great East Japan Earthquake is the name Japanese people often use to refer to the earthquake which struck off the Pacific coast of Tohoku in 2011, killing approximately 18,000 people.
The tsunami which followed the quake also triggered the failure of the cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which raised the radiation inside the plants to up to 1,000 times normal levels and the ones outside the plant to up to 8 times normal levels.
Mr Shushikura’s warning comes after experts in the country gathered data indicating a powerful earthquake could happen soon near Hokkaido.
Japan’s Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion, an expert panel within the science ministry, noted in December 2017 the Kuril Trench was experiencing a series of activities similar to the one seen in 2011.
The trench is a topographic depression of the sea floor running northeast of Hokkaido to the south of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.
Experts have cited movements of the earth’s crust on the coast of Hokkaido among the signs that the next big earthquake is on the way.
Scientists say this signals a high likelihood of a magnitude 8.8 or larger earthquake striking in the near future.
The last big tremor in the area struck in the first half of the 17th century.
The average interval between megaquakes has been estimated to be between 340 and 380 years, according to a study of tsunami deposits - making the trench overdue for a huge quake.
The central Government’s Central Disaster Management Council is now reviewing its projected damage assessments for powerful earthquakes along the Kuril Trench and the Japan Trench to the south.
The Hokkaido local Government will then be expected to update its anti-disaster measures according to the actions taken by the Council.
Kazuro Hirahara, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, said that while it’s still very difficult to know when and if an unusually big earthquake will strike, it is much better for experts to voice their worries to allow people and Governments taking actions before it’s too late.
He said: “We should convey to the public our sense of alarm.”
Ritsuko Matsuura, who heads the analysis division of the public-interest entity Association for the Development of Earthquake Prediction, expressed a similar opinion during a meeting of the Government’s Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.
She said: “You should go as far as possible to do thorough research.
“You cannot say that you have actually identified signs only after the event occurs.”
Express
The Daily Express is a daily national middle-market tabloid newspaper in the United Kingdom. It is the flagship of Express Newspapers, a subsidiary of Northern & Shell. It was first published as a broadsheet in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson. Its sister paper, the Sunday Express, was launched in 1918.
By ALICE SCARSI
PUBLISHED: 13:48, Thu, May 9, 2019 | UPDATED: 14:01, Thu, May 9, 2019
A megaquake in the eastern side of Hokkaido island is overdue and could strike at any time, a series of studies have shown. Masanobu Shishikura, an expert on so-called tsunami deposits who heads a group of researchers at the Government-affiliated National Institute of Advanced Industrial Service and Technology, said: “Eastern Hokkaido is in a situation resembling the Tohoku region before the Great East Japan Earthquake. We should be fully prepared.” The Great East Japan Earthquake is the name Japanese people often use to refer to the earthquake which struck off the Pacific coast of Tohoku in 2011, killing approximately 18,000 people.
The tsunami which followed the quake also triggered the failure of the cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which raised the radiation inside the plants to up to 1,000 times normal levels and the ones outside the plant to up to 8 times normal levels.
Mr Shushikura’s warning comes after experts in the country gathered data indicating a powerful earthquake could happen soon near Hokkaido.
Japan’s Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion, an expert panel within the science ministry, noted in December 2017 the Kuril Trench was experiencing a series of activities similar to the one seen in 2011.
The trench is a topographic depression of the sea floor running northeast of Hokkaido to the south of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.
Experts have cited movements of the earth’s crust on the coast of Hokkaido among the signs that the next big earthquake is on the way.
Scientists say this signals a high likelihood of a magnitude 8.8 or larger earthquake striking in the near future.
The last big tremor in the area struck in the first half of the 17th century.
The average interval between megaquakes has been estimated to be between 340 and 380 years, according to a study of tsunami deposits - making the trench overdue for a huge quake.
The central Government’s Central Disaster Management Council is now reviewing its projected damage assessments for powerful earthquakes along the Kuril Trench and the Japan Trench to the south.
The Hokkaido local Government will then be expected to update its anti-disaster measures according to the actions taken by the Council.
Kazuro Hirahara, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, said that while it’s still very difficult to know when and if an unusually big earthquake will strike, it is much better for experts to voice their worries to allow people and Governments taking actions before it’s too late.
He said: “We should convey to the public our sense of alarm.”
Ritsuko Matsuura, who heads the analysis division of the public-interest entity Association for the Development of Earthquake Prediction, expressed a similar opinion during a meeting of the Government’s Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.
She said: “You should go as far as possible to do thorough research.
“You cannot say that you have actually identified signs only after the event occurs.”
Express
The Daily Express is a daily national middle-market tabloid newspaper in the United Kingdom. It is the flagship of Express Newspapers, a subsidiary of Northern & Shell. It was first published as a broadsheet in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson. Its sister paper, the Sunday Express, was launched in 1918.
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