Although 80% of people were aware of a warning issued in August over a possible huge earthquake in the Nankai Trough off Japan's Pacific coast, some 20% of them did not take specific action, a University of Tokyo survey has found.
The university's Center for Integrated Disaster Information Research conducted the online survey for three days from Aug. 9, the day after the Meteorological Agency issued emergency information on a possible Nankai Trough megaquake to 707 municipalities in 29 of the country's 47 prefectures. The information, the first of its kind, was issued soon after a strong quake struck off Miyazaki Prefecture on Aug. 8.
The agency called on people to take precautions against such a quake. The warning was lifted on Aug. 15 as there was no particular change in the state of the plate boundaries near where the quake is eventually expected to occur.