Residents of Tokyo (Japanese) faced a growing shortage of essential items on Saturday as fears over recent quake-related incidents led to a spurt in demand.
The Japanese government has urged its citizens not to panic and bulk-buying products. As news about the upcoming megaquake broke out, there was an abrupt increase in demand for disaster kits and daily necessities.
Earthquake scientists in Japan have issued warnings that the country should be ready for a probable future “megaquake” which might cause hundreds of thousands of lives. The warning came after a powerful earthquake with magnitude 7.1 struck near southern Japan coast on Thursday.
A supermarket in city had put up an apology notice due to shortage of supplies saying this was caused by “quake-related media reports”.
Signs also indicated that bottled water supply was already limited due to unclear procurement reasons and sales limitations may be placed on other goods.
This trend towards disaster preparedness could also be seen online. By Saturday morning, Rakuten, Japan’s biggest e-commerce site listed portable bathrooms, preserved foodstuffs, and bottled water at the top of their ‘best-sellers’ list.
Local media along the Pacific coastline reported similar surges in demand for emergency supplies as people brace themselves for possible future emergencies.
Retailers along the Pacific coastline were reported by local media to be experiencing high demand for these same kindsof disaster-connected provisions.
The agriculture and fisheries ministry wants people not to “store excess goods” because they fear such an occurrence will take place.
On Friday, tremors measuring 5.3 Magnitude rocked Kanazawa area near ‘Tokyo leading to cell phones’ emergency alarms going off while momentarily stopping bullet trains from moving.
According to the Japanese Government, there is about a 70% chance that such a megaquake would happen within the next three decades somewhere along Nankai Trough’s “subduction zone”.
Earlier this year, on January 1st; an earthquake measuring 7.6 magnitude and strong aftershocks occurred in Noto Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan coast killing at least 318 people and causing huge damages to buildings and infrastructure.
