Based on the report by a government panel, Japan is expected to witness an earthquake of magnitude 7 or higher within the next 30 years in the Nankai Trough. This risk, which earlier stood at 75 per cent, has now increased to 82 per cent.

As per Japan's Earthquake Research Committee, the megaquake and the subsequent tsunami warning it may issue could cause as many as 298,000 deaths and damage up to 2 trillion US dollars.

With the new estimates issued by the Japanese government, Tokyo is now working towards ensuring its prepared plan remains valid for the megaquake.

In 2014, the Central Disaster Management Council in Japan issued a preparedness plan which recommended a series of measures that would reduce deaths caused by an earthquake by 80 per cent.

However, as per the current government, after taking the latest estimates into account, the current preparedness would only cut the toll by 20 per cent.

A new preparedness plan issued on Tuesday calls for an increase in efforts to construct embankments and evacuation buildings and regular drills to improve public readiness in case of a natural disaster.

"It is necessary for the nation, municipalities, companies and non-profits to come together and take measures in order to save as many lives as possible," Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was quoted as saying by local media.

With this new updated plan, Japan hopes to work throughout the next decade to ensure the death troll is reduced by 80 per cent in case of an earthquake in the Nankai Trough.

As per the new updated plan, the government is hopeful to reduce death toll by 80 per cent and the number of destroyed houses by 50 per cent.

Over the past 1,400 years, a "megaquake" has struck Japan in the Nankai Trough every 100 to 200 years. The last one was in 1946 and was recorded to be around magnitude 8.1 and 8.4 on the Richter Scale.

Japan was also struck by an undersea megathrust earthquake in 2011, which measured magnitude 9 to 9.1 on the Richter Scale. The 2011 disaster was also the most powerful earthquake Japan has ever recorded.

However, when it comes to megaquake, Japan continues to keep watch on the Nankai trough. The Nankai Trough is an 800-kilometre undersea gully which runs parallel to Japan's Pacific coast, where one tectonic plate "subducts" or slowly slips underneath another. 

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