There Is A Warning Of The Potential For A Great Earthquake, Japanese PM Kishida Cancels Visits To Central Asia And Mongolia

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (Wikimedia Commons/)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday announced the cancellation of plans for a four-day visit to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia, after the country's cuara agency warned of the risk of a potential major earthquake in the vast Pacific region that stretches from southwest to central Japan has increased.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the first warning for areas around the Nankai Trench, hours after an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale hit the southwest of the country on Thursday.

After attending a peace ceremony in tribunal marking the 79th anniversary of the United States atomic bomb, PM Kishida told a news conference he canceled his overseas trip to "focus on the government's response and the dissemination of information" about the potential for large earthquakes.

"As the highest official in charge of state crisis management, as an extra precaution, I have to stay in Japan for at least one week," PM Kishida said, while the weather agency called on the public to prepare for such a scenario, Kishida added, quoted from Kyodo News Aug. 9.

PM Kishida was due to attend Japan's first summit with Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on Friday evening and issued a joint declaration.

In Mongolian capital, Ulaanabaatar, Japan's PM is scheduled to meet with President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene on Monday.

Earlier on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference PM Kishida would "make the right decision" on travel abroad "after considering various factors."

According to the government, several victims of injuries and damage to buildings have been reported in Miyazaki and two surrounding prefectures after Thursday's earthquake. However, so far no casualties have been reported.