More than 900 earthquakes have shaken a remote and underpopulated island chain in southern Japan over two weeks, keeping residents apprehensive and awake all night.
There have been no reports of damage and no tsunami awareness has been raised but authorities have advised residents to prepare to evacuate if needed.
"It's very scary to even fall asleep," one resident told the regional broadcaster MBC. "It feels like it's always shaking."
The Tokara area has experienced many earthquakes formerly but the frequency of the most recent tremors has been abnormal, according to local media.
Japan is one of the most seismically active nations on Earth as it is located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where many tectonic plates meet. It experiences about 1,500 earthquakes each year.
About 700 people live on seven of the 12 Tokara islands. There are no nearby hospitals in the islands and the nearest is at least six hours by ferry to the prefectural capital, Kagoshima.
In Toshima village, some residents have been exhausted and sleepless, authorities said, as they persuaded the media to stop overwhelming locals with queries.
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"We ask that you be considerate and not make excessive inquiries or interviews," according to a notice on the village website. Some guesthouses on the Tokara islands denied accepting tourists because of the earthquakes, Toshima Village said on its website, noting that they might be used as shelters for locals.
This series of tremors come as the country as a whole has been kept anxious by the rumours of the occurrence of a terrifying earthquake. A 1999 comic book by manga artist Ryo Tatsuki has been spreading these rumors. In a new edition released in 2021, she claimed the next big earthquake would occur on 5 July this year.
These speculations have alarmed some tourists, with several media reporting a large number of trip cancellations.
The vast majority of earthquakes that hit Japan are moderate, but there are some that cause massive damage, like the one in 2011 that caused a massive tsunami into the north-east coast, killing more than 18,000 people.
However, authorities have for decades been scared of the "big one" - a once-in-a-century megaquake that many had been warned about growing up. Worst-case scenarios predict it could kill 300,3000 people.
Earlier this week, the government called for new precautions , such as building embankments and evacuation buildings, to enhance public readiness in case of such a disaster - but it warned that much more needs to be done.