A Japanese government panel has warned that an tsunami as high as 30 metres could crash in on Hokkaido if an earthquake of magnitude 9 occurs. The panel assumed the "worst-case scenario" and said that an earthquake was imminent around the Japan Trench and the Kuril Trench. The panel however acknowledged that it is difficult to calculate the probability of such an earthquake but pointed out that every 300-400 years a massive earthquake has taken place. The last one occurred in the 17th century.
Seismologist Kenji Satake told the Mainichi that a massive earthquake and tsunami would definitely take place as it has always happened several times in the past 6,000 years. The Cabinet Office has also created a working group to estimate the damage that could be caused and to study countermeasures. The panel looked at simulation based on analysis of tsunamis of past 6000 years and covered seven prefectures including Hokkaido, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibarak, Aomori and Chiba. The panel predicts Iwate to be worst-hit with tsunami of 29.7 metres, followed by Hokkaido wit 27.9 metres.
According to local media reports, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) is assessing this report that highlights the threat of the tsunami wrecking the Fukushima nuclear station. The company is attempting to clean up the site of its Fukushima Daichi plant that was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
On April 18, a stong earthquake hit a Japanese island chain located in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo. According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, this earthquake did not have much impact as it occurred in the Pacific Ocean west of the Ogasawara Island chain, which is around 1,000 kilometers or 620 miles south of Tokyo. Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that a Japanese government study has projected that a tsunami with waves as high as 13.7 metre could maul the 11 metre tall seawall built by the TEPCO on the ocean side of the compound of the Fukushima Daichi plant, which is already in the process of being decommissioned.
According to local reports, around 1,000 tanks of wastewater are stored in the compound of the dilapidated Fukushima plant. News agency Reuters quoted a TEPCO spokesperson as saying, "TEPCO will examine the latest projections and analyse the impact on the ongoing preventive measures against tsunamis that the company has been taking."