Megaquake Alert: Japan Warns of Disaster as Doomsday Fish Resurfaces

Japan just issued a major advisory about the Nankai Trough, a fault line that basically sits there like a ticking time bomb. We’re talking about a fault that could produce an earthquake in the magnitude 8 or 9 range, which is basically the kind of shake that could rearrange a country’s coastline—or worse.

The government isn’t saying the big one is imminent, but they are waving a big red flag: there’s a 70-80% chance that within the next 30 years, this thing is going to blow. To be clear, this is the first time Japan has ever issued this kind of advisory under their new 2019 disaster prep law. Translation? They’re serious.

Now, here’s where things get weird.

Enter: The Oarfish, aka the “Doomsday Fish.”

This creature is the stuff of legends—specifically Japanese folklore—and it’s been creeping people out for centuries. Oarfish usually hang out in the deep, deep waters of the Indian and northern Pacific Oceans (we’re talking 650–3,300 feet deep). But lately, they’ve been popping up in shallower waters, and that’s enough to set off some serious alarm bells.

Why? In Japan, these long, eerie fish have historically been seen as omens of earthquakes and tsunamis. The legend goes that the oarfish sense electromagnetic changes caused by tectonic plate movements and then come to the surface to warn us, like aquatic harbingers of doom. This isn’t just some modern-day superstition, either—it goes back to an 18th-century collection of mystery stories called Shokoku Rijin Dana.

Believe it or not, back in 2010, several dead oarfish mysteriously washed up on Japan’s beaches—just months before the devastating March 2011 earthquake that killed nearly 20,000 people and triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In 2017, the same eerie pattern repeated in the Philippines when dead or dying oarfish appeared just days before a 6.7 magnitude quake rocked the southern region of the country. And, in 2024, just two days before a 4.6 earthquake struck Los Angeles, people spotted an oarfish in San Diego, per the New York Post.

Multiple oarfish have been spotted recently, right around the same time Japan issued this advisory about the Nankai Trough. Coincidence? Maybe. But here’s the thing: Japan takes this stuff seriously. They’ve even had scientists debate whether the fish can predict quakes. Sure, the official line is that there’s no direct evidence linking oarfish appearances to seismic activity. But try telling that to a population that’s had the “Big One” hanging over their heads for generations.

Even the scientific community is split. Some say it’s all nonsense, claiming there’s no hard evidence the fish can predict earthquakes. Others keep it open-ended, suggesting there’s still a lot we don’t understand about the natural world, and hey, animals have been known to react to things we can’t measure. But ask the average person in Japan, and they’ll probably side with the fish.

So, what do we make of this? Let’s just say, when the government starts issuing megaquake warnings, and the doomsday fish starts showing up at your door, it might be time to check your disaster kit. Just sayin’.

Japan’s not messing around, and neither should we. Prepper mentality, anyone? If we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s that being ready for anything is the new normal.