Japan: 'Megaquake' advisory prompts residents to hoard daily necessities

Authorities in Japan on Saturday urged people to avoid hoarding as anxiety over a possible megaquake triggered a spike in demand for disaster kits and daily necessities.

In its first such advisory, the weather agency said a huge earthquake was more likely in the aftermath of a magnitude 7.1 jolt in the south, which left 14 people injured on Thursday.

At a Tokyo supermarket on Saturday, a sign was put up apologising to customers for shortages of certain products it attributed to "quake-related media reports".

"Potential sales restrictions are on the way", the sign said, adding that bottled water was already being rationed due to "unstable" procurement.

On Saturday morning, the website of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten showed portable toilets, preserved food and bottled water topping the list of the most sought-after items.

'I'm very worried'

In Tokyo, some residents were ramping up their disaster preparedness.

Bar employee Kokoro Takeuchi said she had ordered bottled water online following Thursday's tremor.

"I'm very worried," the 27-year-old told AFP.

"The bar I work at is underground so if a quake happens all of a sudden, there's a good chance we might not be able to escape. So I've been trying to figure out how best to evacuate," she said.

But others were more resigned to the inevitability of the megaquake.

"I am worried, of course, but overthinking about it will get you nowhere", company worker Mika Nakagawa, 34, told AFP.

"If it happens, then that's that," she said.

Some retailers along the Pacific coastline also reported similar disaster-related supplies in high demand, according to local media reports.

Magnitude 8 or 9 quakes every 100 years

The advisory concerns the Nankai Trough "subduction zone" between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean, where massive earthquakes have hit in the past.

• 7.1 magnitude hits Japan; tsunami alert issued