Photo: Japanese people select emergency supplies in stores after authorities issued a “huge earthquake warning” last week. / Associated Press

According to Kyodo News and NHK reports: On the afternoon of August 15, local time, the Japanese government announced the end of the one-week “huge earthquake warning” for the Nankai Trough in Japan. However, many people are still worried that an earthquake may occur at any time. In addition, after the authorities issued the warning, a large number of news on the Internet that was difficult to distinguish between true and false also confused many foreign tourists traveling in Japan.

This is the first time that the Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a “huge earthquake warning” in history. Japan’s Minister of Disaster Prevention Yoshifumi Matsumura said that since no special changes in earthquake activity or crustal deformation were observed, it was decided to end the “huge earthquake warning” at 5 pm on the 15th, but this does not mean that the risk of a major earthquake has been eliminated. He called on the Japanese people to continue to ensure normal earthquake preparations, such as shelters, evacuation routes and emergency reserves.

Some Japanese netizens said that this was the first time a “huge earthquake warning” was issued. If similar warnings are issued frequently, people may relax their vigilance. “When a real big earthquake comes, anyone can become a victim.”

The media noticed that after the earthquake warning was issued last week, many news links related to earthquake prevention and disaster relief appeared on social media X, but when they were clicked, they were linked to adult websites or shopping websites.

Du Lan, who traveled from Australia to Asakusa, Japan, said that although she downloaded an official app that provides disaster information to foreigners, she found no warning information about major earthquakes.