Japan prepares for the next Big One

[AsahinaKimi]

Mail carrier Kenjiro Ishimori rides a motorcycle after delivering mails at an area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Saturday, April 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

TOKYO — It sounds like a weather forecast — not for today, but for the next 30 years.

There is a 70 percent chance of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake between now and 2040 in the southern Kanto area around Tokyo, and a 90 percent chance in nearby Ibaraki, according to Japan’s Earthquake Research Promotion agency.

The likelihood of 8.0-magnitude quakes is 87 percent in the Tokai region about 100 miles southwest of Tokyo, 70 percent in Tonankai near the automotive capital of Nagoya, and 60 percent for a massive 8.4-magnitude Nankai quake near the sprawling Osaka area in western Japan.

Three months after the March 11 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which killed at least 25,000 people, Japanese leaders and citizens are taking earthquake forecasts seriously and reviewing preparations for disasters.

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/9/japan-prepares-for-the-next-big-one/