Japan Warns Of Megaquake: Tectonic Time Bomb That Could Kill 300,000, Trigger Massive Tsunamis

The Japanese government released a report on Monday that warned that the nation could face a long-anticipated megaquake off its Pacific coast.

Which could trigger devastating tsunamis, the collapse of hundreds of buildings and potentially killing about 300,000 people. Last year, Japan issued its first-ever megaquake advisory that there was a “relatively higher chance” of a quake as powerful as magnitude 9 in the trough, after a magnitude-7.1 quake occurred at the edge of the trough.

The report accessed by news agency Reuters said the nation’s economy could lose as much as $1.81 trillion if such an event occurs. The number is equivalent to 270.3 trillion yen, or nearly half of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP) and is higher than the initial estimate of 214.2 trillion yen as the new estimate accounted for inflationary pressures and updated terrain and ground data which have expanded anticipated flood areas, as per the new Cabinet report.

In the worst-case scenario of a potential magnitude 9 earthquake, Japan could face a staggering 1.23 million evacuees, which is about 10% of its total population. If such a quake strikes late at night during winter, as many as 298,000 people could lose their lives due to tsunamis and collapsing buildings, according to the report.

Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, and the government sees about an 80% chance of a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake along a tremulous seabed zone known as the Nankai Trough.

The trough is off Japan’s southwest Pacific coast and runs for approximately 900 km (600 miles), where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate. The accumulating tectonic strains could result in a megaquake roughly once in 100 to 150 years.

A magnitude 9 quake in 2011 that triggered a devastating tsunami and the triple reactor meltdowns at a nuclear power plant in northeast Japan killed more than 15,000 people.