A Japanese mystic who predicted a devastating earthquake to take place inside the next two months has caused travel chaos.
Now, those in the alleged impact area are urging tourists not to cancel their trips due to the chilling prediction from Ryo Tatsuki, who has been dubbed the 'new Baba Vanga'.
Of course, we're all familiar with the Bulgarian clairvoyant, who is credited with accurately predicting some major world disasters that have taken place after her death - the 9/11 attacks and the death of Princess Diana being two of the most famed.
But attention has recently turned to 70-year-old Tatsuki who accurately predicted an earthquake to hit Japan in March 2011 - in the northern Tohuku region, which claimed the lives of more than 18,000 people.
The manga artist made the prophecy in her 1999 released book, titled The Future I Saw.
A 'complete edition' on Tatsuki's book was published in 2021, and it's here that she warned of another devastating event that will take place in July 2025. This event is predicted to take place in Japan and will supposedly hit the country on July 5.
Tatsuki has warned that 'a crack will open up under the seabed between Japan and the Philippines, sending ashore waves three times as tall as those from the Tohoku earthquake', CNN reports.
Now, tourists hoping to travel to Japan have cited the mystic's hair-raising prediction as a major reason not to go - with one person even explaining how their family are urging them to cancel their upcoming trip to the East Asian nation.
The post read in part: "Usually I'd just dismiss these warnings as them being paranoid, but it seems like there are a lot of reputable researchers saying that Japan is long overdue for a massive quake that could kill hundreds of thousands of people."
Despite also explaining how they had 'survived a massive earthquake once before' which left them 'traumatised', users were bemused at the fact people were considering canceling a trip over something that has not even happened yet.
One user commented: "There’s always warnings about a possible mega quake. You can’t predict it. So just go."
While another added: "There are not [a lot of reputable researchers predicting the earthquake]. Anyone who says they can predict quakes is a quack. The government has given worst case scenarios for what could happen in a Nankai Trough quake which could happen in the next 30 years.
"Notice the number of 'could's? Cancelling a holiday because of a quake that may come at some point in time in the next 30 years is quite frankly nuts. And I live here, in an earthquake prone area."
Another user explained how Japan frequently has earthquake warnings taking place, pointing out that their buildings are built 'to withstand earthquakes'.
The original poster replied: "But what if I'm outside when it happens? Or if there's a tsunami, even being inside a building won't be safe."
While another user added: "If you're outside stay away from buildings so things don't fall on you. Being inside during a tsunami is safe if you're above the water line. You're panicking over a whole lot of nothing by watching too many TikToks with disinformation."