Rice and water disappear from Tokyo shelves after earthquake warning

Rice and bottled mineral water have gradually disappeared from Tokyo shelves in the five days since the warning of an increased risk of a major earthquake in the Nankai fault area in southeastern Japan, Report informs referring to foreign media.

The most common varieties have completely disappeared from the shelves, leaving bags of unprocessed brown rice, which is significantly more expensive than regular rice. In the section where mineral water was sold, there is a notice that "due to the influence of information in the media about the earthquake, due to instability in the provision of (the required) quantity of goods, some of them have run out, and in some cases, a limit on the quantity of their sale is being introduced."

At the same time, products that are usually rarely touched by buyers are displayed in a prominent place: semi-finished rice, instant noodles, and canned goods.