Magnitude 9 ’super-gigantic’ earthquake IMMINENT – and it could be WORSE than Fukushima

A MEGA earthquake as big as magnitude 9 is imminent with fears it will be as big, if not bigger, than the one that caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

By Henry Holloway /

Earthquake in Japan GETTY

SUPER GIGANTIC: Japan has warned another massive earthquake is imminent to hit Hokkaido

Japanese government officials have warned a quake as large as the 2011 disaster is overdue and “impending”.

Tokyo disaster experts at the Earthquake Research Committee have predicted a 70% chance of a magnitude 8 to 8.6 earthquake hitting the northern-most island of Hokkaido.

And there is an up to 40% chance of this mega-quake reaching "super gigantic" magnitude 9.

Japan was devastated in 2011 when a magnitude 9 “mega thrust” earthquake struck off the coast in the early hours of March 11.

Sixteen thousand people died in the ensuing tsunami which destroyed more than 127,000 buildings and triggered the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactor.

Inside Japan's CHERNOBYL: the ghost town abandoned after Fukushima meltdown

 
Namie is a town five miles away from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. It was evactuated shortly after the reactor went into meltdown in 2011. Five years later, people slowly started to return to the town.
1 / 15
A doll sits inside an abandoned house Bloomberg via Getty Images
A doll sits inside an abandoned house

    “The possibility that a super-gigantic quake like the one that struck the Tohoku region could also strike Hokkaido”

    Professor Naoshi Hirata

    The disaster – known as the 3.11 Earthquake – was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful of all time.

    And now Japan fears a disaster as big or bigger is due within just three decades.

    Experts at Hokkaido University carried out the study based on data from the past 400 years.

    They said the cycle lasts between 340 and 380 years, and Japan is now well within this time range.

    It was regarded as the worst crisis to hit Japan since the end of World War 2.

    Fukushima GETTY

    DISASTER: Japan's 2011 tsunami killed nearly 16,000 people across the nation

    Earthquake GETTY

    EARTHQUAKE: Could another tremor to hit Japan could be the biggest quake ever?

    The 3.11 Earthquake triggered meltdowns in all three of the reactors in the Fukushima plant – in a level 7 disaster, the highest possible rating for a nuclear accident.

    Over 154,000 people were evacuated around the plant from a 12-mile wide exclusion zone.

    The plant still remains a no-go zone to this day, and is highly radioactive.

    “I hope disaster preparations are reviewed based on the possibility that a super-gigantic quake like the one that struck the Tohoku region could also strike Hokkaido,” Naoshi Hirata, a seismology professor at the University of Tokyo told Japanese media.

    The DEADLIEST earthquakes of all time

     
    Earthquakes have struck terror into the heart of mankind since the dawn of time. These once inexplicable phenomena were interpreted by primitive civilisations as the anger of the gods. With death tolls of up to half a million people, it's not hard to see why. Warning: contains GRAPHIC IMAGES
    1 / 18
    Messina, Italy, 1908, 7.1 on the Richter scale. Between 75,000 and 200,000 lives were lost Roger Viollet/Getty Images
    Messina, Italy, 1908, 7.1 on the Richter scale. Between 75,000 and 200,000 lives were lost

      The Japanese archipelago is one of the most active regions in the world for earthquakes.

      Tokyo is armed with some of the most sophisticated early warning systems and anti-quake tech.

      Yoshimasa Hayashi, science and technology minister, said: “We are hoping this report will help local municipal governments to make necessary preparations and raise households' awareness of disaster risk."

      Earthquake in Japan GETTY

      DESTRUCTION: At least 750,000 buildings were damaged in the quake off Fukushima

      The terrifying RADIOACTIVE wild boars of Fukushima

       
      The town of Namie was evacuated after the Fukushima nuclear planet went into meltdown after the 2011 tsunami. The area has been declared safe for human habitation again. Safe but for one thing: RADIOACTIVE wild boars
      1 / 16
      A wild boar gnaws on the caging of a booby trap REUTERS
      A wild boar gnaws on the caging of a booby trap
        Related videos

        Fukushima was rocked by a 6.3 magnitude quake 180 miles east of the power plant back in October.

        Work to decomission the nuclear power plant is still ongoing nearly seven years on from the 3.11 Earthquake.

        Earlier this year, a “ghost ship” lost in the Fukushima disaster was found washed up in Hawaii.

        Comments