Officials said the megaquake advisory is not a prediction and the probability of a magnitude 8 or larger quake is only about 1%, but there's hope it will serve as a wake-up call.

A powerful late night earthquake shook more than a million people across cities in northeast Japan. The quake was located just off the coast of Misawa in Aomori Prefecture. Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings,

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck 80km off Japan’s northeast coast late Sunday, sending 40–50cm tsunami waves ashore and prompting evacuation warnings for about 90,000 residents, with several injuries reported.

In the latest report prepared by a Japanese government earthquake task force, it was estimated that up to 298,000 people could be killed in a Nankai Trough megaquake with a magnitude of 8-9. The casualties would include 215,000 deaths caused by tsunami waves, the report said.

The latest cause for alarm is a grim prediction: a massive tsunami striking Japan in July 2025. Interest in the manga resurfaced after readers linked it to events such as the 1995 Kobe earthquake and the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.