9 i) X4 W$ j# ]% v+ ~1 H 3 x$ j. Y: ]) r- E8 ~0 N5 iRobert J. Geller calls on Japan to stop using flawed methods for long-term forecasts and to scrap its system for trying to predict the 'Tokai earthquake'.9 {. p# s s0 u" f' r, T! X
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For the past 20 years or so, some seismologists in Japan have warned of the seismic and tsunami hazards to the safety of nuclear power plants, most notably Katsuhiko Ishibashi, now professor emeritus at Kobe University. Their warnings went unheeded. Yet in the immediate aftermath of the magnitude-9.1 earthquake that struck Tohoku on 11 March, pundits could be found on many Japanese TV stations saying that it was “unforeseeable”.9 n; S( ]& ~; q# F. Q, j
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: w: o) u4 f0 ] ( d& j! l% {' T, l) w! @ }Emergency drills such as this mislead the public into believing that the Tokai district is due a magnitude-8 quake soon.