Fumio Kishida said he would remain in Japan after experts warned of higher than normal risks along the Nankai Trough.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has cancelled plans to visit Central Asia after weather experts warned of an increased risk of a “major earthquake” along the Pacific coast following an earthquake in southwestern Kyushu.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kyushu on Thursday, injuring eight people and triggering a tsunami warning.
Kishida was due to leave on Friday for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia.
“As the prime minister, who is the person in charge of crisis management, I have decided that I should stay in Japan for at least a week,” he told reporters.
Kishida added that the public must be feeling “extreme anxiety” after the JMA issued its first warning under the new system, drawn up after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in 2011 triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster that killed about 18,500 people.
The Japan Meteorological Agency stated, “The possibility of a new major earthquake occurring is higher than usual, but that does not necessarily mean that a major earthquake will occur.”
NHK reported that Foreign Minister Kishida's visit was canceled as the government prepares for any eventuality.
The JMA's warning refers to the Nankai Trough, an 800-kilometer (497-mile) long trench under the Pacific Ocean where two tectonic plates meet and where past earthquakes have generated giant tsunamis.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Tokyo and eastern Japan on Friday. Foreign Minister Kishida said the government had not received any reports of major damage.
The quake's epicenter was in Kanagawa prefecture at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Kanagawa does not belong to the Nankai Trough region.
The last earthquake along the Nankai Trough occurred on December 21, 1946.
Japan, a nation of 125 million people that sits on top of four major tectonic plates, experiences about 1,500 earthquakes each year, most of them small.
Thanks to advanced building techniques and well-rehearsed emergency response procedures, even when larger earthquakes occur, their impact is usually contained.
The government has previously said there is about a 70% chance of a major earthquake occurring within the next 30 years.
Experts say a worst-case scenario could affect large swaths of Japan's Pacific coast, threatening the lives of an estimated 300,000 people.
