The ground shakes beneath you. Your body sways a little. An alert pops up on your phone. You turn to a friend and ask: 今揺れた？ (Ima yureta?, Was that a quake just now?)
On Aug. 8, the 気象庁 (kishōchō, Japan Meteorological Agency) issued its first-ever alert for a 南海トラフ巨大地震 (Nankai Torafu kyodai jishin, Nankai Trough megaquake) after a magnitude 7.1 temblor struck off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture.
Again, that’s not a 地震 (jishin, earthquake) — that was a 巨大地震 (kyodai jishin, megaquake) alert.