A years-old Japanese manga that claims a "megaquake" — those above a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale — will strike on July 5 has generated panic and deterred some inbound travelers for the past several months.
The Japanese government has warned about earthquake speculation. In April, it released a statement that “predicting earthquakes by specifying the date, time, and location is difficult with current scientific knowledge.”
Last month, a Japan Meteorological Agency official said at a news conference that it was “regrettable that people are being affected by baseless information in this age of modern science.”