Japans economy might lose as much as $1.81 trillion in case of a long-anticipated megaquake off its Pacific coast, which could activate destructive tsunamis, the collapse of numerous structures and possibly killing about 300,000 individuals, a government report said on Monday.The expected economic damage of 270.3 trillion yen, or nearly half of the nations amount to gdp (GDP), was up sharply from the previous price quote of 214.2 trillion yen as the brand-new estimate represented inflationary pressures and upgraded terrain and ground data which have expanded expected flood locations, the Cabinet Office report showed.Japan is among the worlds most earthquake-prone countries, and the federal government sees about an 80% possibility of a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake along a tremulous seabed zone called the Nankai Trough.Under the worst-case circumstance, based upon a prospective magnitude 9 earthquake in the area, Japan is most likely to see 1.23 million evacuees or 1% of its overall population.
As many as 298,000 people might die from tsunamis and building collapses if the quake occurs late during the night in winter, the report showed.The trough is off Japans southwest Pacific coast and runs for approximately 900 km (600 miles), where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate.
The accumulating tectonic strains might result in a megaquake approximately once in 100 to 150 years.Last year, Japan issued its first-ever megaquake advisory that there was a relatively greater opportunity of a quake as effective as magnitude 9 in the trough, after a magnitude-7.1 quake happened at the edge of the trough.A magnitude 9 quake in 2011 that activated a destructive tsunami and the triple reactor disasters at a nuclear reactor in northeast Japan killed more than 15,000 people.Source: Reuters-- Agencies