Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has canceled a trip to Central Asia this weekend after scientists warned that the probability of a “megaquake” off the country’s Pacific coast has increased following Thursday’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake in the southwest.
Kishida, who is facing low approval ratings and threats to his leadership in the ruling party’s presidential election next month, announced his decision at a press conference Friday.
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According to the Kyodo news agency, he was scheduled to conduct a summit with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in Astana on Friday evening, followed by a meeting with Mongolia’s president in Ulaanbaatar on Monday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its first warning of a massive earthquake along the Pacific coast on Thursday, following a tsunami warning caused by a tremor on Kyushu, the country’s southernmost main island. There have been no deaths or substantial damage recorded. Bradley and Hubbard noted that Thursday’s quake had just a “small probability” of being a foreshock, and that “One of the challenges is that, despite an increased likelihood of a second earthquake, the overall risk remains consistently low.”
