[Seoul=Newsis] In the Tokara Islands of Japan, over 900 small-scale earthquakes have occurred recently, but experts have stated that these are not related to the ‘Nankai Trough Megathrust Earthquake’. The photo shows a segment from the Fuji News Network (FNN) reporting on the Tokara Islands earthquake in Japan. 2025.07.03 *DB and resale prohibited. /Photo=Newsis
[Financial News] As the threat of the ‘Nankai Trough Megathrust Earthquake’, which has been officially warned by the Japanese government, draws closer to reality, experts have issued strong warnings that its effects may not be limited to Japan alone.
Hong Tae-kyung, a professor in the Department of Earth System Sciences at Yonsei University, stated on CBS’s ‘Park Jae-hong’s Unbeatable’ on the 4th that “if a major earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 or more occurs in the Nankai Trough, high-rise buildings across the Korean Peninsula could be affected,” and warned that “earthquakes originating in Japan’s Nankai Trough should not be considered solely Japan’s concern.”
Professor Hong explained the potential impact the Nankai Earthquake could have on Korea by referring to the unusual incident last March when a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, causing significant shaking and some collapses of high-rise buildings in Bangkok, Thailand, located 1000 km away from the epicenter.
In the case of a Nankai earthquake, the southern part of the Korean Peninsula is only 500 km away, and the entire peninsula, including Seoul, falls within a 1000 km radius. If the worst-case scenario, predicting a magnitude 9.0 mega-quake as per Japanese academia, occurs, the low-frequency energy could severely impact high-rise buildings across the Korean Peninsula.
Professor Hong particularly noted concerns as most of Korea’s high-rise buildings were constructed after the last major earthquake in the Nankai Trough, which occurred in the 1940s, implying a potentially unprecedented situation. He added, “If a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurs in Nankai, it is estimated that the Korean Peninsula would theoretically shake by more than 30 cm,” and mentioned that “the government is also considering measures.”
The potential for a Nankai Megathrust Earthquake has been predicted for a long time, but it has recently gained attention due to a prophecy by famous manga artist Tatsuki Ryo. Tatsuki published a comic book titled ‘The Future I Saw’, claiming to be based on a prophetic dream he had in 1999, which describes a massive earthquake occurring on July 5, 2025, generating tsunamis three times higher than those during the Great East Japan Earthquake, engulfing the southwestern part of Japan.
Tatsuki’s predictions for the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic have already come true, raising interest in whether his prophecy suggesting the Nankai earthquake will also materialize. This comes amid increasing concern, as over 1000 earthquakes have been reported in the Tokara archipelago recently.
Professor Hong, addressing the “Tokara Rule,” which suggests that a series of earthquakes in the Tokara archipelago precedes a megathrust elsewhere, stated that while this has not been scientifically validated and is considered folklore, the concentration of numerous magnitude 4 or higher earthquakes in one area over a short period is indeed extraordinary.
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