A Manga Is Causing Earthquake Panic in Japan
Earthquakes can't be predicted. Scientists agree that precise predictions of a time, place, and magnitude is not possible with current technologies.
Yet a years-old Japanese manga that claims a 'megaquake'—those above a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale—will strike on July 5 has generated panic and deterred some inbound travelers for the past several months.
The 2021 reprint of The Future I Saw by Ryo Tatsuki, a retired mangaka in her 70s, warns that a 'huge' tsunami 'three times the size' of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake will wash over countries in the Pacific Ocean. The first edition of the manga, published in 1999, had referred to a 'great disaster' in March 2011 that coincided with the earthquake that killed more than 18,000 people and caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster.
Last month, Tatsuki appeared to scale back her prediction about a July 5 megaquake, telling the national newspaper Sankei that it may not happen. But she fell short of entirely withdrawing her warning. TIME has reached out to Tatsuki for comment.
The 2021 reprint has sold more than 1 million copies in Japan, and social media content that has racked up millions of views is fueling the scientifically unfounded fears.
In recent weeks, two Hong Kong-based airlines alone have cut down on flights to southern Japan due to lower passenger interest. 'We are surprised that such rumors have led to cancellations,' the Tokushima Tourism promotion division said.
The Japanese government has warned about earthquake speculation. In April, it released a statement that, 'predicting earthquakes by specifying the date, time, and location is difficult with current scientific knowledge.' Last month, Japan Meteorological Agency director-general Ryoichi Nomura said in a news conference that it was 'regrettable that people are being affected by baseless information in this age of modern science.'
Japan has long been a hotbed of seismic activity due to its position in the Pacific Ring of Fire. In August, JMA issued an advisory that 'the likelihood of a new major earthquake is higher than normal' in relation to the Nankai Trough, a 560 mi. oceanic trench to Japan's south. Earthquakes arising from the Nankai Trough are as the geologists Kyle Bradley and Judith A. Hubbard put it, 'the original definition of the 'Big One.''
Earlier this year, a government panel issued a report stating that a megaquake along the Nankai Trough has an 80% chance of happening in the next 30 years. Under the worst-case scenario, as many as 298,000 people could die, the report added.
Japan experiences about 1,500 earthquakes a year, almost a fifth of the global total. The country has spent decades putting earthquake preparedness plans in place.
Given the history and frequency of earthquakes in Japan, concern is understandable. But JMA's Nomura has 'strongly' urged the 'public not to take irrational actions driven by anxiety.'
JMA remains a reliable source of information about earthquakes in Japan, as are the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the British Geological Survey (BGS), and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) in their respective regions.
Callum Sutherland contributed reporting from London.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Gizmodo
Love Is in the Air in The New ‘Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc' Trailer
If you've been hankering for some Chainsaw Man in anime form, MAPPA is taking the shonen anime to theaters with the upcoming Reze Arc movie. During this weekend's festivities at Anime Expo, the studio unleashed a new trailer show how much love, death, and caranage await Denji and the gang in September. Set after the anime's first season, things kick off with Denji's boss Makima finally agreeing to go on a date with him. Just as he's reeling from getting to achieve another facet of normal life, a second girl by the name of Reze arrives and hits his heart. The more he hangs out with Reze, the more Denji finds himself conflicted about which girl he's crazy for, or if there's room for both of them in his heart. But this is Chainsaw Man, and that means Denji can't ever get a break. Not only was Reze lying about her intentions, she's actually the Bomb Devil, and wants him to join her side by any means necessary, which soon puts all of Tokyo in danger. This new trailer spends some more time showing Denji's thoughts on the two objects of his affection and his individual dates with them both, which involve subtly manipulating his teenage heart. And once Reze shows up in her Devil form, all hell breaks loose as Denji takes to the sky to fight his crush and his fellow Hunters Aki and Angel enter the fray. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc hits theaters in Japan on September 19, then internationally on September 24 before hitting the US on October 29. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
CNN
5 hours ago
- CNN
Japanese manga ‘predicts' July megaquake
Japanese manga 'predicts' July megaquake Japan gets earthquakes every day – but viral predictions of a July 5 megaquake, from psychics to feng shui masters, have spooked some travelers into canceling their trips. Could it be true? CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports. 01:01 - Source: CNN Vertical Trending Now 14 videos Japanese manga 'predicts' July megaquake Japan gets earthquakes every day – but viral predictions of a July 5 megaquake, from psychics to feng shui masters, have spooked some travelers into canceling their trips. Could it be true? CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports. 01:01 - Source: CNN Joey Chestnut on the taste of competitive eating Ever wondered if competitive eaters at the annual July 4th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest can taste what they're eating at that speed? In a 2024 interview, CNN's Don Riddell put that question to the greatest competitive eater in history, Joey Chestnut. 00:37 - Source: CNN How AI could help male infertility Researchers at Columbia University Fertility Center developed an AI-powered tool that can scan millions of images from a semen sample in under an hour to detect hidden sperm cells that traditional methods might miss. CNN's Jacqueline Howard explains how this could open new possibilities for families looking to have children. 01:41 - Source: CNN 'Squid Game' season three breaks record for Netflix Season three of 'Squid Game' is setting world records for Netflix with the most views of a show in three days and the number one ranked show in all available countries worldwide in its premiere week, says the streaming company. 00:37 - Source: CNN The teens trying to make 'MAHA' cool Lexi Vrachalus and Grace Price are two of the young influencers behind the newly formed 'MAHA Girls' account. They're bringing their social followings and "Make America Healthy Again" influence together to recruit a younger cohort of MAHA devotees. CNN's Meena Duerson chats with the 19-year-olds about where the movement is going. 02:51 - Source: CNN See swarms of 'lovebugs' invade South Korea Video posted on social media shows thousands of 'lovebugs' blanketing hiking trails on the Gyeyangsan mountain. South Korea is wrestling with an outbreak of the insects, which have been driven into warmer urban areas like Seoul due to climate change, according to a 2022 study. 00:42 - Source: CNN Beyoncé's 'flying' car prop tilts midair A technical mishap led to Beyoncé's 'flying' car prop to tilt during a Cowboy Carter concert in Houston, with fans capturing the moment on video. The singer was quickly lowered down and without injury, according to Beyoncé's entertainment and management company. 00:57 - Source: CNN 'Cobra Kai' star Alicia Hannah-Kim accuses co-star of biting her "Cobra Kai" star Martin Kove allegedly bit co-star Alicia Hannah-Kim during a fan convention in Washington, claiming it was a joke, according to police. 03:02 - Source: CNN See Jonathan Anderson's highly anticipated Dior debut Jonathan Anderson, founder of JW Anderson, made his debut as creative director of Dior. His collection, Dior menswear Spring/Summer 2026, was showcased during Paris Fashion Week. 00:45 - Source: CNN What biohacker Bryan Johnson says is the most powerful drug in existence CNN's Boris Sanchez spoke with controversial biohacker Bryan Johnson about the impact of the medical experiments he's done and what he thinks is the most underrated aspect of health. 01:08 - Source: CNN See swarms of 'lovebugs' invade South Korea Video posted on social media shows thousands of 'lovebugs' blanketing hiking trails on the Gyeyangsan mountain. South Korea is wrestling with an outbreak of the insects, which have been driven into warmer urban areas like Seoul due to climate change, according to a 2022 study. 00:42 - Source: CNN Thousands defy ban on Budapest Pride Protesters in Budapest are marching against a ban on Pride events across Hungary. People came from 30 different countries to show support under scorching heat, organizers said. 00:53 - Source: CNN Two men reunite baby bird with its mother Two men were walking in their neighborhood when they heard chirping near a sewer. When they approached, they could see a baby bird trapped inside the sewer. 01:17 - Source: CNN Newlyweds Bezos and Sanchez spotted on boat ride CNN's Melissa Bell reports from Venice, Italy, following newlyweds Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez as they wave at spectators during their boat ride through the city. 00:45 - Source: CNN
The Drive
5 hours ago
- The Drive
I Dropped $50 on This Rare Gran Turismo Demo and I Regret Nothing
The latest car news, reviews, and features. If you're reading this website, you're probably nerdy about something—and I'm willing to bet it's not just cars. Maybe that leads you to hoarding memorabilia or working far too long on a project, never content to put the tools down. Oftentimes, such passions manifest in questionable financial decisions. I made one such purchase last weekend, when I dropped $50 on an old Gran Turismo demo disc with one car and one track, in a race the game won't even let you finish. Why would I do this? The disc I purchased at a gaming convention last weekend is called Gran Turismo 2000 , and it was kind of a mystical thing back in my youth. After Gran Turismo 2 on the original PlayStation, developer Polyphony Digital naturally set its sights on bringing the smash-hit franchise to Sony's next-generation console. Its initial efforts materialized in builds of a project called GT2000 , which first appeared at the Tokyo Game Show in late 1999, ahead of the PlayStation 2's Japanese launch the following March. GT2000 was shown a few more times at events over the next year: Once at Sony's PlayStation Festival 2000 in Chiba, Japan, in mid-February, and then months later at trade shows in the U.S. and U.K. as well. Those PlayStation Festival attendees, however, received GT2000 demo discs they could load into the PS2s they'd soon have, and this iteration of the game is the only one that has ever made its way into the public's hands. That's what I bought. Whether Gran Turismo 2000 was intended to be the third GT's title is unclear, but once the game slipped into 2001, Polyphony naturally chose a new name: Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec . GT3 went on to be a juggernaut, understood to be the second-best-selling PS2 game ever, at least as of the last time anyone bothered to count. But GT2000 is almost nothing like it, even though it was compiled just 14 months before the final game hit stores in Japan. See, this is why I couldn't pass up an opportunity to own a copy of GT2000 . With demo discs of yore, you'd typically get a slice of the full game; depending on when the demo was minted, it might even look or play a little differently from the finished article. But, to anyone who knows Gran Turismo , GT2000 barely feels like an early, work-in-progress snapshot of GT3 . In fact, it feels more like GT2 —and that's what makes it so special. Adam Ismail, Sony Interactive Entertainment In GT2000 , you drive the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V around the Seattle Circuit, a track that first appeared in GT2 . There are five opponents: a Honda NSX, FD Mazda RX-7, R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R, Subaru Legacy B4, and Toyota Altezza, always in the same colors. The race isn't limited to laps, but rather a 120-second timer that is just about long enough to pass the finish line once. Then you get a replay, and then you're rudely punted back to the title screen. One song plays as you drive— 'Mirage' by Daiki Kasho—and it's kind of infamous for being obnoxious, but I love it. The car select menu (it's honestly more of a color and transmission select menu, because you can't choose another car) spits you out into a race with no countdown—just a rolling start where you immediately have control over your Evo. The first thing you notice is that the vehicle physics are pretty much a match for GT2's . The Lancer feels extremely light and tossable, and you can fling it into corners and pull off some effortless drifts that would require a bit more finesse with GT3's weightier, more nuanced handling model. GT3 drives well, of course, and certainly more realistically, but GT2's liveliness appeals to the arcade racing lover in me, and I have a lot more fun throwing around the Evo here than I do in the final game. Breaking out of the course is shockingly easy in this demo. You can even drive up to a very crude billboard of the Space Needle. Adam Ismail, Sony Interactive Entertainment This demo is rough, though. For one, walls don't slow you down much at all. If you turn around at the start and drive through a tire barrier, you can easily break out of the course's bounds. Computer-controlled opponents exit most corners wide and strike the guardrails. And the graphics are hardly stellar. Aside from the physics, this is the other big difference between GT2000 and GT3 . The car models resemble GT2 assets with slightly more intricate geometry; their windows are still opaque black, just like on the PS1, while they'd be transparent in time for GT3's release. The Seattle Circuit itself also looks rather flat and simplistic, with lower-resolution textures throughout. Comparing key sections of the track across both games, you can see how Polyphony built far more detail into the environment and trackside scenery in little more than a year. The overpass that the circuit runs beneath after Turn 1, for example, is mostly flat in GT2000 . In GT3 , we see beams and cables in shadows. GT2000 on the left, GT3 on the right. They barely look like they are from the same console generation. Adam Ismail, Sony Interactive Entertainment Further into the lap in GT2000 , we pass Seattle's since-demolished Kingdome. In GT3 , the Kingdome is still present, but resides next to Safeco Field, known as T-Mobile Park today. The Mariners' new home wasn't finished in time for the environment modelers to get it into GT2 , so it's a nice touch that they were able to go back and include it in GT3 . These stadiums did actually exist simultaneously for a short time, but as I understand it, many of the roads near T-Mobile Park that GT's track used were removed decades ago. Seattle readers, feel free to weigh in. Adam Ismail, Sony Interactive Entertainment Indeed, GT3 is an objectively better experience, and history has proven that few developers were able to harness the PS2's power as well as Polyphony. And yet, there's something fascinating about seeing what is effectively GT2 running on more powerful hardware at double the framerate and a higher (albeit interlaced) resolution. For all its faults, it almost feels like a GT2 'Plus.' Audiences around the time of the demo's release were stunned by the heat haze effect Polyphony was able to convey in replays. It seems quaint now, but Gran Turismo was on the cutting edge of real-time graphics even then. Little details, like how GT2000's cars accurately reflect the environment they're in, rather than the vague, scrolling light effects you'd see in the PS1 games, represent serious steps forward. And all of it would be further refined for GT3 . GT2000 , then, is a fascinating snapshot of Gran Turismo at a precise moment in time, to a nerd like me. And, as Digital Foundry's John Linneman pointed out in his fantastic retrospective on the series that you ought to watch if you care about stuff like this, what makes GT2000 all the more special is how Polyphony improved upon it so profoundly in GT3 . These days, it's sadly not uncommon for our first glimpse at a game to be markedly more impressive than the final shipping product, but Gran Turismo bucked that expectation in a big way. Adam Ismail, Sony Interactive Entertainment Personally, snagging a copy of this demo represents something else, for me: closure. I remember gaming magazines talking it up when I was a kid, and when GT3 eventually emerged, I wondered what happened to GT2000 . Of course, it was never a secret—the final game literally missed the year 2000, and this disc was never released outside Japan—but these kinds of things carry a lot of weight when you're young. And I'm happy to say that there's been a positive development in my securing a copy of GT2000 . Remember how I said that you could only drive the Evo in this game? I shared my purchase with members of the racing-game-centric Discord community I run. One of them goes by the name of Silent—he's the developer perhaps best known for fixing old Grand Theft Auto games so they run better than ever on PC. Silent built upon work done by another Gran Turismo modder years back, named Xenn, and is whipping up cheats that can be used in the PCSX2 emulator to remove GT2000's two-minute time limit and let the player drive any of the game's six cars. Neat stuff! It's unclear how many GT2000 discs Sony pressed for that Festival show, whether in the hundreds or the thousands. Either way, they're not impossible to find, and if I really wanted to, I could've scoured eBay for a copy years ago. Yeah, $50 is a lot, but you might be surprised to learn that it's a pittance compared to what some truly rare or high-demand games command nowadays. I could never bring myself to shell out the cash until the chance presented itself in person. Now that I have, surprise, surprise: I regret nothing. Got any memorabilia you love yet spent a stupid amount of money on? Email me at
