Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a press conference as part of the 29th EU-Japan Summit at The European Union Building in Brussels on July 13, 2023. (Photo by John Thys / AFP)
Tokyo: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday cancelled a four-day trip to Central Asia after government scientists warned Japan should prepare for a possible "megaquake".
The weather agency said a huge earthquake was more likely in the aftermath of a magnitude 7.1 jolt in the south on Thursday, which left 14 people injured.
Some bullet trains between Tokyo and western Osaka are running more slowly as a precaution, so delays will be possible for about a week, the rail operator said.
Nuclear plants nationwide were also instructed by authorities to double-check their disaster preparations.
The Japanese word for "hoarding" was trending on social media platform X as people expressed concern about panic-buying and urged each other to stay rational.
Premier Kishida was due Friday to travel to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia and attend a regional summit.
"As the prime minister with the highest responsibility for crisis management, I decided I should stay in Japan for at least a week," he told reporters.
He said the public must be feeling "very anxious" after the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued its first advisory under a new system drawn up following a major magnitude 9.0 earthquake in 2011, which triggered a deadly tsunami and nuclear disaster.
"The likelihood of a new major earthquake is higher than normal, but this is not an indication that a major earthquake will definitely occur," the JMA said.
