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From June 21st to June 26th, a sequence of 475 tremors struck the Tokara island chain of Kagoshima prefecture, located in southwestern Japan.

The Tokara island chain, composed of 12 different islands, experienced intense seismic activity that ranged from 1 ~ 5.1 magnitude.

The earthquake constantly occurred in an interval of an hour or less, significantly disrupting the daily lives of the approximate 600 residents; fortunately, no injuries or structural damages were reported.

Experts stated that the cause of this earthquake chain is due to the convergent shift boundaries between the Eurasian plate and the Philippine sea plate.

They further explained that the Philippine sea plate has a structural property of sliding beneath the Eurasian plate, causing subductions and landform changes in the submerging area.

The Tokara island chain had to face earthquakes periodically due to this fact, but there hasn’t been such a time when the island was shaken at this intensive rate; the previous record was 346 earthquakes in 15 days, set in September of 2023.

Although there was no significant damage caused by the recent earthquakes, the public  is still in fear as they are interpreting the tremors as a possible precursor  for a bigger imminent Earthquake.

People are perceiving the earthquakes as an initiation of the Nankai megathrust earthquake: it is a gigantic Earthquake that returns in a period of 90~200 years. 

The idea of the incoming massive seismic activity is frightening the population as it evokes the past traumatic memory of a similar instance of tragedy, the Tohoku Earthquake.

Recorded as one of the most devastating natural disasters to have occurred in Japan, Tohoku Earthquake was a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that engulfed the whole country in 2011.

The strike of the earthquake and a following tsunami led nearly twenty thousand people to cease and an immense amount of facilities to be vandalized; one of which was a nuclear power plant in Fukushima that is in progress of purifying contaminated surroundings and materials.

Adding to the anxiety, some citizens are corroborating their speculation by stating that the next Mount Fuji eruption period overlaps the earthquake period, as they claim it is an indication that there will soon be a massive shift in the tectonic plate.

Moreover, social media attention has been  drawn to a manga that is predicting the Nankai earthquake.

From a manga called “The Future I Saw” that was published in October of 2021, the author Tatsuki Ryo stated that there is going to be an earthquake that has triple the power of the Tohoku earthquake on July 5th.

Tatsuki Ryo gained his credibility by predicting events such as the Tohoku earthquake and the pandemic.

Since his speculation of the Nankai earthquake is very soon and there were a lot of earthquakes recently, the audience’s fear is getting intensified.

His prophecy isn’t scientifically corroborated but is provoking Japanese citizens’ trauma.

Overall, the consecutive shake occurred in Tokara island of Kagoshima prefecture greatly disturbed the local residents, while reigniting nationwide fears of a looming Nankai earthquake.