TOKYO
(AFP) - Seismologists on Sunday warned Japan to stay vigilant for the next
"Big One" after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the
coast of the quake-prone nation, injuring a dozen people.
Saturday's
quake was the second sizeable tremor Tokyo has experienced in a week, after a
much less powerful - but far shallower - earthquake close to the capital on
Monday.
Some
experts warn recent quakes and volcano eruptions may be signs that areas near
the country are entering an active phase of crustal changes. "I can say
Japan is in an active stage now," said Dr Toshiyasu Nagao, head of
Earthquake Prediction Research Centre at Tokai University. "Considering
the geographic location of Japan, we can say the current activities are rather
normal and it was too quiet" before the 2011 jolt, he told AFP. "We
should be vigilant by knowing that it is no wonder that an earthquake sizeable
enough to affect our society can occur anytime in the future."
Dr
Kazuki Koketsu, a professor with the Earthquake Research Institute at the
University of Tokyo, said the latest tremor was unlikely to be a sign of a
potential big jolt in the capital, which was devastated by an massive
earthquake in 1923. "But it is important to regard it as an opportunity to
prepare for a future quake," Dr Koketsu told TV Asahi.
*Passengers
check train schedules after train services were suspended following an
earthquake at Shinbashi station in Tokyo, in this photo taken by Kyodo on May
30, 2015. Seismologists on Sunday, May 31, warned Japan to stay vigilant
for the next "Big One" after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake
struck off the coast of the quake-prone nation, injuring a dozen people. --
PHOTO: REUTERS
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