{"id":322690,"date":"2026-04-22T10:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=322690"},"modified":"2026-04-22T10:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:52:17","slug":"how-powerful-is-a-mega-quake-and-will-one-ever-occur-within-the-uk-news-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/how-powerful-is-a-mega-quake-and-will-one-ever-occur-within-the-uk-news-world\/","title":{"rendered":"How powerful is a &#8216;mega-quake&#8217; and will one ever occur within the UK? | News World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><figcaption>Mega-quakes can occur with next to no warning (Picture: Getty Images AsiaPac)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fears of a catastrophic \u2018mega-quake\u2019 are mounting after Japan was rocked by a 7.7 magnitude tremor.<\/p>\n<p>The earthquake, off the northeastern coast, sent shockwaves felt tons of of miles away in Tokyo.<\/p>\n<p>Tsunami alerts flashed on phones as 10ft waves hit the Iwate prefecture and Hokkaido.<\/p>\n<p>Social media footage captured the moment power lines swayed and kitchenware rattled inside people\u2019s homes.<\/p>\n<p>Experts have now raised the probability of a follow-up mega-quake from 0.1% to 1% \u2013 a tenfold increase in the standard risk level.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s a mega-quake?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tEnroll for all of the most recent stories\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p>Start your day informed with Metro&#8217;s <strong>News Updates<\/strong> newsletter or get <strong>Breaking News <\/strong>alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A mega-quake is defined as a large tremor with a magnitude higher than eight. The strongest ever recorded was a 9.5 which struck Chile in 1960.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.metro.co.uk\/i\/html_modules\/2026\/04_APR\/260420_japan_earthquake\/index.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" class=\"metro-iframe iframe-autoheight \" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" name=\"69e8540052991\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Richard Walker, professor of tectonics on the University of Oxford, warned these events are uniquely destructive.<\/p>\n<p>He told Metro: \u2018Although these really large earthquakes are rare, they may be very damaging as they produce strong shaking and since they&#8217;ve the potential to supply tsunami waves that may inundate coastal regions, including places far-off from the earthquake itself.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Scientists are actually reviewing historical data, noting the same pattern of quakes that led as much as the magnitude 9.1 that struck in March 2011.<\/p>\n<p>That disaster triggered a tsunami that killed 19,000 people and destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Walker said the present warning is important for \u2018careful messaging and education on find out how to prepare and react\u2019.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-player video-player--hidden-carousel\">\n<div class=\"video-player\">\n<div class=\"metro-video-player  \" data-track-module=\"article_video-player-with-related-carousel\">\n<div class=\"vjs-video-container vjs-fixed vjs-responsive\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<video id=\"3638261\" class=\"video-js\" poster=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/04\/20\/09\/108015973-0-image-m-116_1776674393987.jpg\" data-opts=\"{\"autoplay\":false,\"controls\":true,\"createdDate\":\"2026-04-20T09:38:54+0100\",\"duration\":25,\"headline\":\"Tokyo office shakes as magnitude 7.3 quake strikes off Japan's east 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Japan Meteorological Agency has also warned of a tsunami as high as 3 metres (9.84 ft) in Iwate, Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures.\",\"title\":\"Tokyo office shakes as magnitude 7.3 quake strikes off Japan's east coast\",\"videoId\":3638261}\" preload=\"metadata\" playsinline=\"\"><source src=\"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/04\/20\/4126329366351294710\/480x270_MP4_4126329366351294710.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\"><\/source><\/p>\n<p class=\"vjs-no-js\">To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an online<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbrowser that<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/videojs.com\/html5-video-support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">supports HTML5<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo<\/a><\/p><\/video>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Japan stays highly vulnerable since it sits on the Ring of Fire fault lines and has a mean of three earthquakes a day, in keeping with the University of Tokyo.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Could Britain ever face one?<\/h2>\n<p>In brief, the UK stays safely shielded from such extreme seismic activity.<\/p>\n<p>The country sits in the course of the Eurasian tectonic plate, removed from deep ocean trenches.<\/p>\n<p>The tremors that do shake the British Isles are inclined to be clustered across the Midlands Microcraton \u2013 a triangle of rock stretching from the Peak District to Swansea and London.<\/p>\n<p>The British Geological Survey says there are around 300 a yr, but only 30 are felt.<\/p>\n<p>A \u2018major\u2019 UK quake in 2023 measured just 4.2, which is a fraction of the strength in comparison to Japan\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"430\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_254233060-4434.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28060490\" alt=\"Houses lie in ruin in a wasteland that was once a thriving coastal community after being hit by a tsunami following an earthquake in Ishinomaki city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Japan sent thousands of rescue workers to the northeastern coastal area devastated by the country's strongest earthquake on record as officials at a nuclear power station battled to prevent a meltdown after an explosion near a reactor. Photographer: Robert Gilhooly\/Bloomberg via Getty Images\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/div><figcaption>An earthquake on March 15, 2011, was certainly one of Japan\u2019s deadliest (Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Professor Walker reassured us saying: \u2018The UK is much, far, away from the closest deep ocean trench, with distinguished global examples being those within the Caribbean, offshore western South America and Alaska, and along the eastern margin of Asia (including Japan).\u2019<\/p>\n<p>For further reassurance, the last major geological upheavals within the UK happened tens of hundreds of thousands of years ago, when volcanic activity formed landmarks equivalent to Giant\u2019s Causeway and the Isle of Skye.<\/p>\n<p>The closest Britain has come to a strong earthquake in modern times was the Dogger Bank earthquake of 1931.<\/p>\n<p>Measuring 6.1 in magnitude, it caused widespread damage and was linked to the death of a girl in Hull who suffered a fatal heart attack through the tremor.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s a mega-quake?<\/h2>\n<p>The strength of earthquakes is measured on a scale of magnitude. The upper the number on the dimensions, the more powerful the quake.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mega-quakes are\u00a0far larger and more destructive earthquakes defined as those with a magnitude of greater than eight. <\/p>\n<p>The most important was in 1960, when a magnitude 9.5 earthquake flattened a 1,000-mile-long stretch of Chile.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tHow one can prepare for an earthquake &#8211; and what to do when one happens \t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p>The Earthquake Country Alliance, an earthquake coordination organisation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earthquakecountry.org\/sevensteps\/\">recommends <\/a>that folks secure items of their home, equivalent to bookcases, that might easily topple over. <\/p>\n<p>The identical goes for fragile items like TVs or heavy pieces like a hot water heater. <\/p>\n<p>Official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jma.go.jp\/jma\/en\/Activities\/earthquake_image\/earth-fig13.png\">guidance <\/a>in Japan recommends people keep their footwear by their bed and be able to evacuate at any time, even through the night. <\/p>\n<p>Keep an emergency kit of basic supplies \u2013 ID, money, water and medication- and hearken to official broadcasts on the radio and web for updates. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018Keep away from fragile block partitions,\u2019 it adds. \u2018Be ready for collapses brought on by earthquakes.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"\"><strong><strong><strong>Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this, <\/strong><strong>check our news page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: There\u2019s a brand new food craze hitting cafes and shops that\u2019s \u2018unattainable to withstand\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: White House uses Wii Sports to advertise Iran War and Japan just isn&#8217;t completely happy<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Japan is climbing the value of its hottest tourist train pass very soon<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\"><a class=\"metro-button share-bar-comments\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card accent--news\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card__inner\">\n<h4>News Updates<\/h4>\n<p>Stay on top of the headlines with every day email updates.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mega-quakes can occur with next to no warning (Picture: Getty Images AsiaPac) Fears of a catastrophic \u2018mega-quake\u2019 are mounting after Japan was rocked by a 7.7 magnitude tremor. The earthquake, off the northeastern coast, sent shockwaves felt tons of of miles away in Tokyo. Tsunami alerts flashed on phones as 10ft waves hit the Iwate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":322691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20691],"tags":[4430,36395,395,1031,813],"class_list":["post-322690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-happen","tag-megaquake","tag-news","tag-powerful","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[{"message":"The permalink for this post just changed! 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