Prime minister of Japan Fumio Kishida canceled his planned four-day trip (9−12 August) to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, Kyodo reported.
The decision was made due to the Japan meteorological agency’s warning about the risk of a potential massive earthquake in a vast area of the Pacific, stretching from southwestern to central Japan.
The agency issued the first such advisory for areas around the Nankai trough hours after a magnitude 7.1 quake hit the country’s southwest on Thursday.
Kishida, who attended the peace ceremony in Nagasaki marking the 79th anniversary of the US nuclear bombing of the city, announced the cancellation at a press conference on Friday morning. He was set to attend the first-ever summit between Japan and the Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — in Astana on Friday.
According to the Japanese government, multiple damage to buildings have been reported in Miyazaki and two neighboring prefectures, but no fatalities have been reported so far.
Flags of Uzbekistan and Japan were hung in the streets of Tashkent in anticipation of the visit. According to Gazeta.uz correspondents, they are currently being removed.
