Japanese urged to avoid panic buying as mega quake fears spread
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A staff member works as a sign written "bottled water is being rationed, with a cap of one case (six bottles) per each customer" is displayed in a supermarket in Tokyo.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO - The authorities in Japan urged people to avoid hoarding, as anxiety over a possible mega quake triggered a spike on Aug 10 in demand for disaster kits and daily necessities.
In its first such advisory, the weather agency said a huge earthquake was more likely in the aftermath of a 7.1-magnitude jolt in the south on Aug 8
At a Tokyo supermarket on Aug 10, a sign was put up apologising to customers for shortages of certain products that it attributed to “quake-related media reports”.
“Potential sales restrictions are on the way,” the sign said, adding bottled water was already being rationed due to “unstable” procurement.
On the morning of Aug 8, the website of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten showed portable toilets, preserved food and bottled water topping the list of the most sought-after items.
In Tokyo, some residents were ramping up their disaster preparedness.
Bar employee Kokoro Takeuchi said she ordered bottled water online following Aug 8’s tremor.
“I’m very worried,” the 27-year-old said. “The bar I work at is underground so if a quake happens all of a sudden, there’s a good chance we might not be able to escape. So I’ve been trying to figure out how best to evacuate.”
But others were more resigned to the inevitability of the mega quake.
“I am worried of course, but overthinking about it will get you nowhere”, company worker Mika Nakagawa, 34, said. “If it happens, then that’s that.”
Some retailers along the Pacific coastline also reported similar disaster-related supplies in high demand, according to local media reports.
The advisory concerns the Nankai Trough “subduction zone” between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean, where massive earthquakes have hit in the past.
It has been the site of destructive quakes of 8 or 9 magnitude every century or two, with the central government having previously estimated a 70 per cent probability that the next big one will strike in the next 30 years.
Experts however emphasise the risk, while elevated, is still low, and the agriculture and fisheries ministry urged people “to refrain from excessively hoarding goods”.
A 5.3-magnitude tremor rocked the Kanagawa region
On social media platform X, spam posts taking advantage of fears over the mega quake are rapidly mushrooming.
Public broadcaster NHK said spam disguised as helpful quake-related tips was being posted every few seconds on X, with links that instead direct users towards pornography or e-commerce sites.
Such posts are “making it increasingly difficult for users to reach genuine information about quakes”, NHK said.
Sitting on top of four major tectonic plates, the Japanese archipelago of 125 million people sees some 1,500 quakes every year, most of them minor.
On Jan 1, a 7.6-magnitude jolt and powerful aftershocks
