The Olympic Games in Japan kick off amid a series of disasters

Right now, the Olympics are Japan’s burden. Besides the risks already posed by the pandemic, analysts point to the long-term threat of disaster facing the archipelago nation. “The chance of a major earthquake on any given day is very small but not zero,” said Robert Geller, a seismologist and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo. Reuters, warning that an emergency scenario in which athletes and Olympic staff are forced to take shelter together could lead to a new outbreak. “People in Japan who work in disaster prevention are very concerned about this,” he added. “If you have another catastrophe in addition to Covid, everything is worse.”