This year, rumors of a major earthquake occurring in Japan during the summer have spread, prompting the Chinese Embassy in Japan to advise its citizens residing in Japan to carefully consider real estate purchases.
According to reports from Sankei Shimbun and others on the 28th, the Chinese Embassy in Japan issued a notice titled 'Caution Regarding Earthquake Damage' on the 14th. The embassy introduced estimated damage figures provided by experts at the Japanese Cabinet Office regarding a potential Nankai Trough earthquake and advised on stockpiling emergency food and evacuating early in the event of a disaster. The embassy particularly noted, 'Carefully plan any travel or study in Japan and make prudent choices regarding real estate purchases.'
Since a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred off the southeastern coast of Kyushu in August last year, concerns about the possibility of a Nankai Trough earthquake have emerged. The Nankai Trough is located where the Philippine Sea Plate meets the Eurasian Plate, extending from the eastern part of Kyushu, which is close to our country, to the southern part of Shikoku and westward to Shizuoka Prefecture near Tokyo. Major earthquakes of magnitude 8 to 9 have occurred approximately every 100 years.
The Japanese Cabinet Office's expert review group estimated on the 31st of last month that if a Nankai Trough earthquake causing a magnitude 9.0 quake occurred off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu, 298,000 people would die and the economic damage could reach up to 292 trillion 300 billion yen (approximately 293.5 trillion won).
In particular, Sankei Shimbun reported that rumors of a major earthquake occurring in Japan this July are spreading in places like Hong Kong. One basis for the rumor is the manga 'The Perfect Edition of the Future I Saw' by Ryo Tatsuki. Originally published in 1999, 'The Future I Saw' is a work where the author, who vividly remembers dreams, recorded scenes from dreams he had from his 30s.
In the perfect edition, Tatsuki said, 'I have been dreaming the same dream recently,' adding, 'This time, I can clearly see the date. The day disaster will happen is July 2025.' He continued, 'Suddenly, the seabed in the middle of the Philippine Sea (to the south of the Nankai Trough) erupted, resulting in large waves extending in all directions, causing tsunamis in surrounding Pacific nations.'
This manga was first published in 1999. The dream of 'a major disaster occurring in March 2011' was mentioned, which garnered attention for predicting the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. There was also interpretation stating that 'a new virus will emerge, peak in April 2020, and return ten years later' refers to the COVID-19 pandemic.