There is a 40 percent to 50 percent likelihood that magnitude 8 earthquakes will hit regions of central and western Japan causing damage to the Pacific belt zone -- the center of the nation's economy -- in the next 30 years, according to a government report released this week.

The report, by the earthquake survey council, focuses on magnitude 8 quakes in the Nankai and Tonankai regions, which occur in 100- and 150-year cycles along the Nankai trough, which runs through parts of central and western Japan.

The quakes would cause damage throughout major economic centers in the Pacific belt zone, according to the report.