<figure id="attachment_464498" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464498" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="502cc8c3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/ea919ed15fbfa35eaec69eb49c8e4bf7.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464498" class="wp-caption-text">Tsunami waves of up to 30 meters hit the Kanto region from Hokkaido!　A view of Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Houses were swept away by the tsunami and fuel tanks caught fire in the distance.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> It could trigger an earthquake directly under the Tokyo metropolitan area.&#8221;</h3>
<p> Assistant Professor Fumiaki Tomita of Tohoku University&#8217;s International Research Institute of Disaster Science, a staff member of a joint research team from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, warned of the possibility of a super quake in Hokkaido or Tohoku. However, it seems that Hokkaido and Tohoku are not the only areas where super quakes may occur.</p>
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<p><a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/464486" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Click here for the first part of the article explaining the possibility of a super quake in Hokkaido and Tohoku.</a></p>
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<p> A super quake could occur at any time. The Tokyo metropolitan area could be hit by a major quake, and the entire eastern Japan could be in danger as early as today. Hiroki Kamata, a professor emeritus at Kyoto University who specializes in earth sciences, explains.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> If there is a major crustal movement in any one of the three plates, it could trigger an earthquake directly under the Tokyo metropolitan area.</span></p>
<p> Mr. Kamata warns that the following three major earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean could trigger an earthquake directly under the Tokyo metropolitan area. The three epicenters are: 1) off the east coast of Chiba Prefecture, where slow slip phenomena frequently occur; 2) off the coast of Boso, where a huge M8-class earthquake occurred during the Edo period (Enpo era); and 3) off the Pacific Ocean, where a huge outer-rise earthquake may occur.</p>
<p> First, let us listen to Mr. Kamata&#8217;s explanation of (1), where the plate is slowly and eerily sliding.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In February and March of 2012, the North American plate above the Philippine Sea Plate moved, causing frequent earthquakes of around M5 magnitude. According to the government&#8217;s Seismological Research Commission, a slow-slip phenomenon, in which the plate boundary slowly shifts, is believed to have occurred.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In this region, slow-slip events occur every few years. If small displacements occur repeatedly, energy can accumulate (tsuki seki) and cause large earthquakes.&#8217; In the earthquakes that occurred frequently in the past 24 years, the plate boundary is believed to have moved by up to 2 cm.&#8221;</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" What is a possible super large earthquake off the coast of Boso and the Pacific Ocean?"></div>
<h3>The Great East Japan Earthquake is not over.&#8221;</h3>
<p> (2) is further offshore from (1). This region has experienced major earthquakes in the past.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In 1677, the M8.0 Enpo Boso earthquake occurred when the Pacific Plate subducted into the North American Plate. Tsunamis of up to 19 meters high swept the Pacific coast of Chiba Prefecture, killing more than 400 people.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The mechanism of the Enpo Boso earthquake is also related to the Great East Japan Earthquake, whose epicenter borders the Great East Japan Earthquake: when an M9-class super earthquake occurs, &#8220;strain&#8221; accumulates in the extended epicenter region, causing an M8-class earthquake several years to several decades later.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> For example, the M9.1 Sumatra earthquake that occurred in December 2004 was followed by an M8.6 earthquake in April 2012 in the extension of the epicenter (also off Sumatra). According to Chiba Prefecture&#8217;s assumption, a major M8.2 earthquake off the Boso Peninsula would generate a tsunami of up to 8.8 m. It is estimated that about 5,600 people would be killed.</span></p>
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<p> In (3), many faults have been discovered and seismic activity is increasing. This is the area outside the epicenter of the Great East Japan Earthquake, known as the Outer Rise, which is susceptible to crustal deformation caused by super earthquakes. The way in which the force on the seafloor and plates is exerted by the super quake will change drastically, and there is concern that a major earthquake of M8 magnitude may occur.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In March 1933, 37 years after the June 1896 Meiji Sanriku Earthquake (M8.2), the Showa Sanriku Earthquake (M8.1) occurred in the outer-rise region to the east of the epicenter. More than 3,000 people were killed or missing, including a tsunami of up to nearly 29 meters high.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the dynamics of the Japanese islands to the plate changed drastically, and the country entered the &#8220;era of earth movement&#8221; for the first time in 1,000 years. Fifteen years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, but the disaster is far from over.</span></p>
<p> The Nankai Trough earthquake, of which the government is warning us, is not the only one that is imminent. A major crisis in eastern Japan caused by the three major earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean is just around the corner.</p>
<p> From the April 17/24, 2026 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY</p>
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<figure id="attachment_464499" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464499" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="edda378e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/367b96e2e840d349c6ad0c0030e3bc29.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464499" class="wp-caption-text"> A seven-story building collapsed. The Noto Peninsula earthquake in January 2012 had an intensity 7 tremor. Photo shows a seven-story building that collapsed in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_464502" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464502" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="700cb9cf"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/b019fdb1dc6e2191aef708e94b83e47c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464502" class="wp-caption-text"> The danger of a super earthquake looms over the Tokyo metropolitan area!</figcaption></figure>


 Aika Kano, Junpei Kota, Masayoshi Katayama, Kyodo News

 Assistant Professor Fumiaki Tomita of the International Research Institute of Disaster Science at Tohoku University warned of the possibility of a super quake in Hokkaido and Tohoku. However, it seems that Hokkaido and Tohoku are not the only areas that could experience a super quake.

Emergency Disaster Report] The Nankai Trough is not the only one&#8230; Experts warn of a major crisis looming in East Japan: &#8220;Three Pacific Earthquakes! The 3 major earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean&#8221; looming in East Japan

Emergency Disaster Report] The Nankai Trough is not the only one… Experts warn of a major crisis looming in East Japan: “Three Pacific Earthquakes! The 3 major earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean” looming in East Japan

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