Residents living along a sparsely populated string of islands in Japan have become increasingly weary, after hundreds of earthquakes in the span of a couple weeks have made many afraid to go to sleep.
Since June 21, the Tokara Islands have experienced more than 1,000 earthquakes, with a magnitude 5.5 quake being recorded on Wednesday.
It’s left those living on the remote islands anxious and fearful of what might happen, and the Japan Meteorological Agency says it has no idea when the tremors will end.
“Seismic activity has been very active in the seas around the Tokara island chain since June 21,” Ayataka Ebita, director of the agency’s earthquake and tsunami observation division, said at an emergency news conference on Wednesday after the 5.5 quake.
“As of 4 p.m. today, the number has exceeded 900,” he told reporters on Wednesday, according to The Guardian, adding that residents should prepare to take shelter or evacuate given the possibility the area could be hit by even stronger quakes.
As of Thursday, the number of jolts surpassed 1,000 and 89 residents of one small southern island were told to evacuate.
The Tokara Islands, situated in one of the most seismically active regions of the world, are accustomed to seismic activity. Japan sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where many tectonic plates meet, and experiences about 1,500 earthquakes per year.
The frequency and duration of these latest quakes, however, is unusual and the lack of infrastructure and hospitals on some islands means medical help is a six hour-long ferry ride away.
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“It feels like it’s always shaking,” one resident told the regional broadcaster MBC. “It’s very scary to even fall asleep.”
Another said: “It’s not clear when all this will end. I should think about whether to evacuate my kids.”
On the website for the village of Toshima, notes the BBC, authorities have asked the media to scale back on trying to reach locals for comment, citing exhaustion and worry from those living close to the quakes.
“We ask that you be considerate and not make excessive inquires or interviews,” they wrote, adding that some guesthouses are no longer taking tourists because they may be used to shelter locals during potential evacuations.
Isamu Sakamoto, the head of a community association on Akuseki Island, told The Japan Times on Wednesday that residents had agreed to evacuate their homes to a school on the island in the event of any earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5 or above.
In January, a government panel increased the probability of a major jolt in the Nankai Trough off Japan in the next 30 years to anywhere from 75 to 82 per cent, reports AFP.
And in March, the government said a “megaquake” and subsequent tsunami could cause close to 300,000 deaths.
This week, the Japanese government released a report saying much more work needs to be done to prepare for such a megaquake.
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