fazTimes media: Tokyo – Over the weekend, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake shook Japan’s southwestern Tokara island chain, prompting extensive online discussion as people connected the tremor to a popular manga prediction. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said there’s no connection and called it “just a coincidence.” The earthquake happened early on Saturday morning and was about 19 kilometers deep, according to the JMA. Despite the absence of a tsunami warning, officials cautioned people to remain vigilant for aftershocks, landslides, and potential building damage.

The earthquake came after a bigger quake of magnitude 5.5 earlier in the week, which was part of a series of small quakes happening in the area. The region has experienced over 1,000 earthquakes in the past two weeks. Because of this, authorities moved many people from Akusekijima Island, a remote part of Toshima village in Kagoshima Prefecture, to safer places.

What made this event go viral was the strange coincidence with a prediction from a 1999 Japanese manga called The Future I Saw by artist Ryo Tatsuki. The comic had pictures of different future events, and one of them showed a big disaster in Japan happening on a Saturday in July, very close to when the recent earthquake happened.

JMA Sets the Record Straight

At a press conference in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon, JMA official Ayataka Ebita spoke directly about the growing rumors on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok. Ebita said, “It’s just a coincidence.

There’s no real link.” He explained that predicting earthquakes with today’s technology isn’t possible.

“Earthquakes can happen anywhere and anytime in Japan, so the best way to stay safe is to always be ready.”

He also asked people to trust official information instead of stories from fiction. “It’s natural to feel worried, especially when things are unclear, but linking natural events to fictional stories spreads false information and takes away from real efforts to stay prepared,” he said.

A popular manga called The Future I Saw has become a favorite among people who believe in secrets and manga lovers. First released in the late 1990s, The Future I Saw features drawings and diary-like writings that purport to forecast both global and local events. People often use some of these predictions, such as the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, as evidence of the manga's accuracy.

The recent earthquake on June 29 sparked renewed interest in a specific page from the manga. That page says, “A big disaster will happen on a Saturday in July.” Even though the earthquake was on June 29, not July, the date was close enough to cause a big online buzz.

According to BBC News, some social media accounts in Japan shared side-by-side images comparing a manga page with recent news clips. These posts quickly gained millions of views within just a few hours. Some social media influencers told their followers to prepare for more disasters, while others made jokes about the situation, turning it into memes.

Japanese officials and scientists quickly responded to reassure the public. Dr. Emi Tanaka, a seismologist at Tokyo University, cautioned against succumbing to magical thinking. These kinds of connections feel strong emotionally, but they don’t have any scientific support.

Real Threats: Increasing Earthquakes

Despite the fictional nature of the manga, real earthquakes pose a grave threat. The Tokara island chain, made up of about a dozen small islands, is in an area of Japan where many earthquakes happen. This group of islands has volcanoes and tectonic activity, so they often have small tremors. But recently, there have been over 1,000 small earthquakes in a short time, which has worried people in charge of disaster response.

Kyodo News says that the village of Toshima, which takes care of the Tokara Islands, started moving people out before the big quake on Saturday. On Friday, a boat took 13 people from Akusekijima, including some older folks who are 80 years old, to Kagoshima, where they were placed in temporary shelters.

No one was hurt, and there was no major damage from the earthquake on Saturday. However, officials are still telling people to be careful. Yukari Saito, a disaster management officer in Kagoshima Prefecture, said, “There’s still a chance of secondary issues like landslides or falling objects, especially since the earthquakes are happening repeatedly.”

Schools on the affected islands stayed closed all weekend, and some towns did practice emergency exercises.

People who had to leave their homes or stayed behind received temporary shelters, food, and first aid.

The Psychology of Predictions

Experts say that people's desire to understand unpredictable situations helps explain why certain predictions spread quickly, even when they turn out to be wrong. Psychologist Dr. Koji Ishikawa explains that during times of fear or stress, people often look for patterns in random events.

“In Japan, where earthquakes happen all the time, it’s normal for people to hold on to any idea that seems to give them some control, like a prediction from a manga,” Ishikawa said to NHK World.

“It helps them feel safer emotionally.”

A Reminder to Stay Prepared

Even though predicting earthquakes through manga might be fun, officials are stressing the need for real preparedness. The Japan Meteorological Agency has updated its Earthquake Early Warning app, and emergency alerts are now being tested more often. People are being asked to check their emergency kits, keep supplies ready, and get updates from official sources.

“Whether it’s a forecast or a story, earthquakes can happen anytime,” said Ayataka Ebita.

“The best thing we can do is prepare, not panic.” According to Al Jazeera, the Japanese government has recently added more money to support seismic monitoring stations in southern areas, hoping to improve early detection and how quickly people can respond.

Conclusion

The recent earthquake in Tokara Island has once again shown how vulnerable Japan is to natural disasters—and how quickly untrue information can spread online. While discussions about manga predictions dominated the internet, the earthquake affected real people, causing them to lose their homes and face genuine danger.

In the end, science is still the best way to understand and deal with natural disasters, even when they feel scary and complicated. Right now, people in the Tokara Islands and the Kagoshima area are waiting, hoping the worst is over, but ready for more shaking.

As the earth keeps moving under their feet, it's more important than ever for everyone to stay alert, be prepared, and know the difference between what's true and what's just made up.

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