Japan MEGA-QUAKE: Tokyo warns of ‘IMPENDING’ shock as big as Fukushima meltdown earthquake

Government scientists said the “impending” earthquake would strike off the Pacific coastline of Hokkaido and is likely to cause a massive tsunami.

Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Committee predicted a 70 per cent chance of a magnitude-8 to 8.6 earthquake hitting the Nemuro area in eastern Hokkaido within the next three decades.

It forecast a seven per cent to 40 per cent likelihood of a magnitude-9 earthquake across the eastern Hokkaido region with potential impact on nearby Aomori Prefecture which is home to nuclear power plants.

The study is based on historical data which found a huge earthquake rocked Hokkaido’s eastern coastline around 400 years ago.

The research, carried out by experts at Hokkaido University, also concluded the area was historically hit by large tremors on a cycle lasting between 340 and 380 years.

Scientists warned the end of the average cycle had already been exceeded, highlighting that the region’s last mega-quake triggered a tsunami more than 65 feet high and flooded nearly 2.5 miles inland.

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

Naoshi Hirata, a seismology professor at the University of Tokyo and chairman of the panel’s Earthquake Research Committee, said: “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.”

The Japanese archipelago is one of the world’s most seismically active regions and accounts for around 20 per cent of global earthquakes of a magnitude 6.0 or higher.

A 9.1-magnitude earthquake in 2011 claimed the lives of more than 18,000 people, the majority in a massive tsunami that swamped the Pacific coastline.

The disaster also triggered a nuclear crisis after the tsunami severely damaged reactors at Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant, causing radioactive leakages.