Japanese experts warned of the possibility of a very strong earthquake, which they called a "megaearthquake" after yesterday's 7,1 magnitude in the south of that country, where eight people were injured.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida canceled his scheduled trip to Central Asia because of this expert's warning.
"Assuming the greatest responsibility for crisis management, I decided to stay in Japan for at least a week," he told reporters today.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced that "the probability of another strong earthquake is higher than normal", but that this "does not mean that there will definitely be an earthquake".
This is the first time such a warning has been issued in Japan since 2011, when a new alert system was established after the devastating earthquake.
Signals and vehicles were disrupted during the 7,1-magnitude earthquake on Thursday, and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported that eight people were injured, mostly from falling objects.
Japan, which is located at the crossroads of several tectonic surfaces along the so-called "Pacific Belt of Fire", is one of the countries with the highest seismic activity in the world. That archipelago with 125 million people has about 1.500 earthquakes a year, mostly weak ones.
Even the strongest earthquakes there usually cause only minor damage thanks to the application of anti-seismic building norms and the familiarization of the population with emergency measures.
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