A wave of anxiety is sweeping across Japan after more than 400 tremors were recorded around the remote Tokara Islands, including a magnitude 5 earthquake on Tuesday (24 June).
Source: Japan Times
According to Japan Today, the seismic swarm also coincided with the eruption of Mount Shinmoe in Kyushu on Sunday (23 June), its first in seven years, just as smaller tremors were felt on the island.
Source: Miyazaki Broadcasting
The growing public unease is further fanned by a disaster prediction from the 1999 “fortune-telling” manga ‘The Future That I Saw’, which has recently gone viral.
In the series, author Ryo Tatsuki foresees a devastating natural disaster hitting Japan on 5 July 2025, a prophecy that has resurfaced online just as real-world tremors and volcanic activity begin to unfold.
Source: Maeil Business Newspaper
This portion of the manga gained attention online as the author also appeared to have predicted the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the country.
Popular feng shui master Qi Xian Yu’s prediction for the Year of the Wood Snake also added to the public’s fears, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
Earlier this year, she warned of a rise in “natural disasters such as earthquakes and fires, and traffic and aviation accidents” and advised the public to avoid travelling to countries northeast of Hong Kong, which includes Japan.
Following the rising anxiety among citizens, Hong Kong-based airlines have recently reduced their trips to various destinations in Japan, citing a dip in flight reservations.
To reassure the public, Japan Meteorological Agency Director General Ryoichi Nomura said there is currently no scientific way to predict the timing, location, and scale of an earthquake.
“Accordingly, any such predictions should be considered unreliable,” he reportedly posted on X.
Additionally, Fumiaki Tomita, assistant professor at Tohoku University’s Research Centre for the Prediction of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions, said earthquake swarms are not unusual.
“The sort of earthquake swarms that we see happening off southern Kyushu happen occasionally, and we have seen similar seismic events in 2021 and again in 2023,” he explained.
He added that there is no clear relationship between the tremors and the volcanic eruption, so he urged the public not to read too much into these.
Author Tatsuki also reportedly retracted her 5 July prediction for a quake off southern Japan.
However, she allegedly maintained that a major disaster would still occur in July and that a tsunami three times as huge as the 2011 waves would hit the country.
Also read: What is the Nankai Trough & how worried should people travelling to Japan be?
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Featured image adapted from Kyodo News, Japanese Language JLPT & NAT N5-N1 BD on Facebook.