Panic in Japan over 1,000 earthquakes in two weeks

Residents living along a sparsely populated string of islands in Japan have become increasingly weary, after hundreds of earthquakes in the span of a couple weeks have made many afraid to go to sleep. Since June 21, the Tokara Islands have experienced more than 1,000 earthquakes, with a magnitude 5.5 quake being recorded on Wednesday. “Seismic activity has been very active in the seas around the Tokara island chain since June 21,” Ayataka Ebita, director of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s earthquake and tsunami observation division, said at an emergency news conference on Wednesday after the 5.5 quake.As of Thursday, the number of jolts surpassed 1,000 and 89 residents of one small southern island were told to evacuate.

The Tokara Islands, situated in one of the most seismically active regions of the world, are accustomed to seismic activity. Japan sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where many tectonic plates meet, and experiences about 1,500 earthquakes per year.“It feels like it’s always shaking,” one resident told the regional broadcaster MBC. “It’s very scary to even fall asleep.”

People in Japan are scared for what lies ahead, and people outside the country are rethinking their plans to visit, spooked by the latest edition of the Manga comic book, which many have interpreted as a doomsday warning for July 5, which is today(Saturday). Manga is a very popular comic book series, which many claim has accurately predicted disasters in the past. However, Ryo Tatsuki, the artist behind the manga titled 'The Future I Saw', has also downplayed speculation around the latest edition's "predictions", saying she is "not a prophet".

The current wave of attention centres on a vivid dream Tatsuki had on the morning of July 5, 2021, which she documented in her manga. In the dream, a “true catastrophe” strikes in July 2025. She describes an undersea fault line at the Philippine Trench—where the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates meet—splitting open, unleashing a tsunami three times higher than the one that struck in 2011. While the government has urged people not to give in to unfounded predictions, it has also warned of more, possibly strong earthquakes in waters southwest of its main islands, reported news agency Reuters. Meanwhile, tourism has also seen a significant decline in Japan, a country that saw a record 3.9 million travellers in April this year. The most decline in tourism has been from Hong Kong, down 11 per cent year-on-year. Several flights headed to Japan from Hong Kong have also been cancelled, with rumours of a doomsday floating.