the judge's list book review

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THE JUDGE'S LIST

by John Grisham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 19, 2021

A shiny bauble of mayhem sure to please Grisham’s many fans.

A vigorous thriller that gets out of the courtroom and into the swampier corners of the Redneck Riviera.

Judges are supposed to dispense justice, not administer the death penalty on their own initiative. That’s just what Lacy Stoltz is up against, though. The protagonist of The Whistler  (2016), she’s a jaded investigator for Florida’s Board on Judicial Conduct, which, thanks to budget cuts, is dying on the vine, “a leaderless mess.” Lacy acts on complaints, and she receives a doozy from a well-put-together Black woman who introduces herself as Margie, though she admits that's an alias. Her father, a much-respected professor of constitutional law, had retired to South Carolina and was murdered by an unknown killer. Now the coldest of cold cases, his death is a link in an evidentiary chain that only Margie—her real name is Jeri Crosby—has managed to construct. The murderer: a circuit judge sitting in Pensacola, biding his time until he can cross off the next victim on a deeply personal to-be-avenged list. Judge Bannick has more money than God and more technological goodies than Lex Luthor, but though a psycho, he puts on a good public face. Lacy is resistant at first, given that her normal brief is to investigate complaints about drunkenness or corruption, but she allows that “six murders would certainly liven up her caseload.” And then some. We don’t meet the killing judge until halfway through the book, and then he’s a model of clinical badness in a game of cat and mouse that ends in—well, a rather frothily grisly moment. As with all his procedurals, Grisham injects professorial notes on crime and justice into the proceedings: “This country averages fifteen thousand murders a year. One-third are never solved….Since 1960, over two hundred thousand.” And as ever, with one body unaccounted for, he leaves the door ajar to admit a sequel—one that, with luck, will team Lacy with the much more energetic Jeri to enact some justice of their own.

Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-385-54602-7

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021

THRILLER | CRIME & LEGAL THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | GENERAL FICTION

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SEEN & HEARD

by Colleen Hoover ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 8, 2020

A unique story of transcendent love.

An aimless young musician meets the girl of his dreams only to have his newfound happiness threatened by several inexplicable—and possibly supernatural—events.

The story opens as Leeds Gabriel meets with a detective while his girlfriend, Layla, is restrained in a room one flight above them. Through the interview, readers learn that Leeds was wasting both his time and his musical talent playing backup for a small-town wedding troupe called Garrett’s Band when he spied Layla dancing her heart out to their mediocre music at a wedding. When Leeds approaches Layla, their connection is both instant and intense. A blissful courtship follows, but then Leeds makes the mistake of posting a picture of himself with Layla on social media. A former girlfriend–turned-stalker wastes no time in finding and attacking Layla. Layla spends months recovering in a hospital, and it seems the girl Leeds fell for might be forever changed. Gone is her special spark, her quirkiness, and the connection that had entranced Leeds months before. In a last-ditch effort to save their relationship, he brings Layla back to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. When they get there, though, Leeds meets Willow, another guest, and finds himself drawn to her in spite of himself. As events unfold, it becomes clear that Willow will either be the key to saving Leeds’ relationship with Layla or the catalyst that finally extinguishes the last shreds of their epic romance. Told entirely from Leeds’ point of view, the author’s first foray into paranormal romance does not disappoint. Peppered with elements of mystery, psychological thriller, and contemporary romance, the novel explores questions about how quickly true love can develop, as well as the conflicts that can imperil even the strongest connections. Despite a limited cast of characters and very few setting changes, the narrative manages to remain both fast-paced and engaging. The conclusion leaves a few too many loose ends, but the chemistry between the characters and unexpected twists throughout make for a satisfying read.

Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5420-0017-8

Page Count: 301

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020

PARANORMAL FICTION | ROMANCE | SUPERNATURAL THRILLER | THRILLER | GENERAL ROMANCE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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by Colleen Hoover

A FLICKER IN THE DARK

by Stacy Willingham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 11, 2022

The story is sadly familiar, the treatment claustrophobically intense.

Twenty years after Chloe Davis’ father was convicted of killing half a dozen young women, someone seems to be celebrating the anniversary by extending the list.

No one in little Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, was left untouched by Richard Davis’ confession, least of all his family members. His wife, Mona, tried to kill herself and has been incapacitated ever since. His son, Cooper, became so suspicious that even now it’s hard for him to accept pharmaceutical salesman Daniel Briggs, whose sister, Sophie, also vanished 20 years ago, as Chloe’s fiance. And Chloe’s own nightmares, which lead her to rebuff New York Times reporter Aaron Jansen, who wants to interview her for an anniversary story, are redoubled when her newest psychiatric patient, Lacey Deckler, follows the path of high school student Aubrey Gravino by disappearing and then turning up dead. The good news is that Dick Davis, whom Chloe has had no contact with ever since he was imprisoned after his confession, obviously didn’t commit these new crimes. The bad news is that someone else did, someone who knows a great deal about the earlier cases, someone who could be very close to Chloe indeed. First-timer Willingham laces her first-person narrative with a stifling sense of victimhood that extends even to the survivors and a series of climactic revelations, at least some of which are guaranteed to surprise the most hard-bitten readers.

Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-2508-0382-5

Publisher: Minotaur

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021

SUSPENSE | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | CRIME & LEGAL THRILLER | PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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by Stacy Willingham

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Book Review: ‘The Judge’s List: A Novel’ By John Grisham

by RedCarpetCrash | Oct 22, 2021 | Books | 0 comments

Author John Grisham is back with his second Lacy Stoltz novel (following the 2016 release of The Whistler ), with The Judge’s List . Lacy works for the Florida Board of Judicial Conduct and investigates judges in the state of Florida when there’s a complaint. She also has a boyfriend of a few years and is not sure where the relationship is going or where her job is going. Then she’s contacted by a woman named Jes (an alias) with a story about a Judge who she believes is a serial killer and one of his victims was her father many years ago. Lacy finds this story hard to believe but Jes has all sorts of alleged proof. When she files a formal complaint Lacy (who is now in charge of the office after her boss quits) opens up a formal investigation and a couple of more bodies show up. Then it becomes a game of cat and mouse between Lacy, Jes and the murderer, who is now on to the fact he’s under investigation and who the people are investigating him. This is another solid novel from John, although the climax left me a little cold. Lacy is a great character and hopefully more novels with her will be coming.

You can pick up The Judge’s List in stores now from Doubleday.

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Things To Do | Book Review: John Grisham delivers another…

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Things to do | book review: john grisham delivers another thriller with ‘the judge’s list’, book follows two-decade search for a serial killer.

Most of the corruption is theft and graft. But what if the wrongdoing involved capital offenses?  And what if the crimes were traced to the judiciary? The scenario is then more disturbing, as it is appalling when someone trusted to sit in judgement of others is implicated.

Leave it to author John Grisham to rattle our sensitivities. His latest book is “The Judge’s List” and it is by no means a story of mere theft and/or graft. Jeri Crosby, who uses the name Betty Roe and a number of other alias names, has for twenty years been tracking Judge Ross Bannick, a Florida jurist whom Jeri suspects is a serial killer.

Jeri’s inquiry began with the murder of her father, a retired law professor who had no known enemies. But Jeri finds an anecdote of a disgruntled law student in her father’s class. This student rose to the judiciary and the name of the student (who is now a judge) is Ross Bannick.

Jeri tracks down several murders across a number of southern states. With the exception of one of, all were the same way of her father’s murder, a blunt object in the back of the head followed by a particular form of strangulation. And Jeri is able to link these victims to Judge Bannick with the latter harboring motives for the crimes.

Jeri turns to Florida’s Board on Judicial Conduct (BJC), a fictional body obligated to investigate any complaints aimed at judges. The BJC party Jeri contacts is Lacy Stotz, a BJC staff lawyer.

Lacy is at first wary of taking the case. The evidence, the connection Bannick has to the murder victims, she insists is circumstantial and the BJC does not normally investigate these types of offenses. She suggests Jeri turn to local police departments and/or the FBI.

Jeri is too scared at this point to turn to the police. And she has done enough homework to know BJC must accept the case with an evaluation of at least forty-five days at length. But Lacy counters that her boss will no doubt dismiss the complaint.

Then an important development then takes place. Lacy’s boss is promoted to a different department and Lacy is now the interim director of BJC. She finally comes to trust Jeri’s instincts (and research) and goes to the FBI with the request for an investigation of Judge Bannick.

For his part, Bannick is no fool. An educated man, he has managed to go untouched for twenty-plus years of serial murder. And it’s no surprise Bannick is smart enough to figure out someone might finally be on to him.

Being a cold blooded killer, Bannick takes the battle to his accuser, Jeri. It is then that the suspense culminates with the lives of both Jeri and Lacy on the line.

“The Judge’s List” is a good read and no more details should be revealed, being mindful of the spoiler alert. But one problem with the book, and a surprising problem considering Grisham is a trained attorney, is when the FBI drags its collective feet, insisting there is no evidence. Jeri has connected the suspect to eight victims of whom she is aware and proves beyond doubt the murders stretching across several states are the work of one person.

Grisham never fails to deliver in the legal thriller, a genre in which he is the master. As for “The Judge’s List,” it is very much recommended reading. The sociopath Grisham creates makes the typical corrupt politician seem trivial.

John O’Neill is an Allen Park freelance writer.

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[A short review & opinion] The Judge's List - John Grisham

I have wanted to read a John Grisham novel for a long time and last week I managed to read the quite recently published 'The Judge's List'. It may not be his best written novel, but honestly, I'm really happy that I have read something like this. It is a first of a kind storyline (for me) in which the author puts everything on the table at the start and slowly unfolds the events, connects dots and showcases the proceedings with the utmost brilliance. It is very well written in a conversational as well as descriptive fashion in the right proportions that kept me interested till the end. I almost thoroughly enjoyed reading it until the story concluded. The ending was unexpected and did not match up to the level of build-up it had created. The case was solved by a piece of evidence discovered from a trail left behind by the culprit that he was shown to be very careful about. I think, at the end, the culprit lost his character and it all came to an abrupt conclusion. However, that was my opinion about the novel. I'd love to read some more from y'all. Looking forward to reading his all time best novels. Peace.

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The Judge's List: A Novel (The Whistler) Hardcover – October 19, 2021

• Book 2 of 2 The Whistler
• Print length 368 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Doubleday
• Publication date October 19, 2021
• Dimensions 6.45 x 1.38 x 9.53 inches
• ISBN-10 0385546025
• ISBN-13 978-0385546027
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday; First Edition (October 19, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385546025
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385546027
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.45 x 1.38 x 9.53 inches
• #630 in Political Thrillers (Books)
• #3,304 in Suspense Thrillers
• #10,308 in Genre Literature & Fiction

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About the author

John grisham.

John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Boys From Biloxi, The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John lives on a farm in central Virginia.

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Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 62% 26% 8% 2% 1% 62%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 62% 26% 8% 2% 1% 26%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 62% 26% 8% 2% 1% 8%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 62% 26% 8% 2% 1% 2%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 62% 26% 8% 2% 1% 1%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the plot interesting, creative, and innovative. They also describe the writing quality as great and the characters as interesting. Opinions are mixed on readability, writing style, and pacing, with some finding it difficult to put down and others saying it's overcrowded with minutiae.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the plot captivating, fun, and easy to read. They also say the book is some of Grisham's most creative and innovative writing, and a page-turner that keeps them on edge.

"...He's so good as an author , at plotting, at character building, at dialogue, at velocity, etc., he's the master...." Read more

"...However, while the ending is unexpected (which is fine), it is also a let down given the suspense it had built up to...." Read more

"I live in Florida so the places and people seemed so real to me. Great story and keeps you reading more and more." Read more

"I loved it.... it's classic Grisham and was a very good and complicated story ." Read more

Customers like the writing quality of the book. They mention it's a great read, one of the author's best, and entertaining.

"...This latest, "The Judge's List," is, in my opinion, one of his best ...." Read more

"This was a good book . I looked forward to reading it each day because it keeps you on the edge if your seat...." Read more

"...Great story and keeps you reading more and more ." Read more

"I loved it.... it's classic Grisham and was a very good and complicated story." Read more

Customers find the characters interesting and diligent in trying to solve the crime.

"...He's so good as an author, at plotting, at character building , at dialogue, at velocity, etc., he's the master...." Read more

"...I wasn’t disappointed. The novel has a strong plot, interesting characters , and suspense from beginning to end...." Read more

"...John Grisham gives us driven characters and a genius, ruthless killer. Will he ever be caught?..." Read more

"...CONS:* Laci Stoltz is as dull and uninteresting a protagonist as there is in recent literature...." Read more

Customers find the story intriguing and interesting. They also say there is never a dull moment.

"...This is still not "The Firm" kind of excitement, but it is still engrossing ...." Read more

"...This one was an enjoyable read and kept me entertained . Grisham’s riding style is fast paced and doesn’t waste words." Read more

" Great book that never gets boring . I have read many many of Grisham’s books and never read a bad one." Read more

"Easy read and kept my attention , easily. Grisham is a terrific writer. Have read quite a few of his novels now...." Read more

Customers are mixed about the writing style. Some find the book well-written and engaging, while others say it's overwhelmed with minutiae, has little suspense, and has very little strong language and sex.

"It was typically Grisham. Well written , of course, but not as gripping or exciting as some earlier books. Rather matter of fact...." Read more

"I absolutely loved it. Couldn’t stop reading it but didn’t want it to end. OMG." Read more

"... Simplicity is not that simple . It’s because I compare Grisham to Grisham –a graving on a curve of sorts. I believe he has done better in the past...." Read more

"...the finish, which I think is some of Grisham's most creative and innovative writing I have seen...." Read more

Customers are mixed about the pacing of the book. Some mention it has a great pace, while others say it's slow at the beginning and torturous at the end. The storyline moves slowly at times, but provides an interesting narrative.

"...This particular book is slow going in the early chapters which I believe his editor should have pointed out to him...." Read more

"...I'm a generally slow reader, but couldn't put this down. It's fast and challenging and a great book...." Read more

"The book moved slow and was not as suspenful as his other novels however it still was a good book." Read more

"...Grisham’s riding style is fast paced and doesn’t waste words ." Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the readability of the book. Some find it difficult to put down, while others find it easy to follow.

" Couldn’t put it down . I expect to see a book 3….SOON…I don’t want to give anything away. Thanks John" Read more

"The Judge's List was difficult to put down ...." Read more

" Very hard to put down ! I could hardly wait to get back to it!" Read more

"I’ve read it in two days. Couldn’t put it down . Great writing, great story. A serial killer unlike anyone else. One of Grisham’s best novels." Read more

Customers are mixed about the complexity of the book. Some mention that they like the details, psychological insights, and complex analysis. They also find the book believable and well structured. However, others say that it's overly long, filled with way too many details, and not really a mystery. They say there are no insider revelations and the conclusions are uneventful.

"...While working as a novel with psychological insights and complex analysis , it can be read also as a fable representing the human mind and its..." Read more

"...Basically, there's no mystery here . We're told very early who the killer judge is. I keep waiting for a plot twist, but nope - it's him...." Read more

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Why Jordan Chiles' score changed, giving her bronze medal in Olympic floor final

Editor's note: Jordan Chiles may have to return her bronze medal after the International Gymnastics Federation on Aug. 10 reinstated her initial score.

PARIS — When the last score was announced in the women's floor exercise final Monday, Ana Barbosu of Romania leaped onto the floor with her country's flag and started jumping down in celebration. And Jordan Chiles was deflated, thinking she had missed out on the podium.

Then, in seconds, their moods flipped − and a distraught Barbosu dropped her Romanian flag on the ground.

Chiles leapfrogged Barbosu to win a stunning bronze medal on floor at the 2024 Paris Olympics after her coaches successfully challenged a minor scoring decision made by the judges, boosting her to third place from fifth. It gave the 23-year-old the first individual Olympic medal of her career, in incredibly dramatic fashion.

"I was so tired, I didn't even realize my coaches put an inquiry in," Chiles said. "And I was like, 'OK yeah, let's see.' It can vary. So when it came through, I was very proud of myself."

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Chiles' original score on floor exercise was 13.666, while left her just shy of Barbosu's 13.700. But after her coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi, submitted what is known as an inquiry about her score, it went up to 13.766.

Cecile Landi said the inquiry revolved around what is called a tour jeté full − essentially a split leap.

"Today (she was) a little sloppy on the landing. But at this point, we had nothing to lose so I was like 'we're just going to try," " Cecile explained. "I honestly didn't think it was going to happen but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like 'What?' "

Rebeca Andrade of Brazil took a surprising gold medal in the event, while Simone Biles settled for silver.

How gymnastics scores work

The scores in gymnastics comprise of two separate pieces: A difficulty score and an execution score.

The execution score, or E score, it out of a maximum of 10 points, with judges taking deductions for each misplaced hand or slight wobble on a landing. The difficulty score, or D score, is completely reliant upon the difficulty of the skills that each gymnast does throughout their routine.

This means that some athletes, like Biles, often walk into competitions with a built-in cushion because they are doing more difficult skills . And it puts more pressure on gymnasts with lower D scores to absolutely nail their planned elements.

If you don’t know, now you know… JORDAN CHILES IS THAT GIRL. ✨ #ParisOlympics 📺 E! and Peacock pic.twitter.com/iZRmjs9wDL — NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 5, 2024

Why Jordan Chiles' score changed on floor

During a routine, like Chiles' on floor exercise, judges are keeping track of each skill or element that the gymnast completes. Each one is worth a certain point value, adding to the D score.

After the score is announced, a gymnast's coach − who obviously knows all of the planned elements in the routine, and what that D score should be − can then choose to challenge the D score by submitting what is officially called an "inquiry." The coach basically asks why a specific skill was not credited, and sometimes that can lead to an improved score after the initial one is announced.

2024 Olympic medals:   Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Jordan Chiles had the BEST reaction when she found out she won bronze in the women's floor final! 🥹🥉 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/4hQl4wtF69 — NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 5, 2024

Chiles' initial D score on floor exercise Monday was 5.8, which left her just fractionally behind Barbosu. But after the routine, the Landis submitted an inquiry with the judging panel about that one leaping element. And it worked.

"I was not confident, but what do you have to lose?" Laurent Landi said. "She was out of the podium already, so even if they dropped the score, it couldn't have been worse, you know? We tried.

"I was at the same angle as the judge and I felt (her tour jeté full) was way better than all the other meets than she's done, so what the heck? We may as well try."

Chiles' execution score was not changed as a result of the inquiry, but the D score went up by one tenth of a point, to 5.9. And that was enough to give her a bronze.

Jordan Chiles' reaction to winning bronze on floor

The inquiry made a small difference in Chiles' score but ultimately helped her achieve her goal of winning an individual medal.

Although she won team silver and gold at the past two Games, Chiles had not qualified for an individual final before this one. Though no fault of her own, mind you. Chiles was unlucky not to be included in both the all-around and vault finals after an extremely strong performance in qualifying.

Chiles placed fourth in both the all-around and vault in qualifying. But because Biles and Suni Lee both finished ahead of her in the all-around, and Biles and Jade Carey were ahead of her on vault, Chiles was excluded by a rule that limits the field to just two gymnasts per country .

Chiles has said she is not a fan of that rule, but at least she had a chance at her own medal Monday.

"I'm on cloud nine," she told reporters. "This is my first-ever (Olympic) individual event (apparatus) final, at my second Olympics. I have no words."

Where some athletes might have sulked or scaled back, Cecile Landi said, Chiles continued coming to practice and working hard in preparation for Monday.

"She loves floor, so I think qualifying on floor really helped her keep her chin up," she said. "I'm glad she didn't give up. And it paid off today."

Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on social media @Tom_Schad.

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It Ends with Us

Adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, Lily overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life. A chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of ... Read all Adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, Lily overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life. A chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents' relationship. Adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, Lily overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life. A chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents' relationship.

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• Trivia The casting of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni as Lily and Ryle caused backlash from fans because in the book Lily is 23 and Ryle is 30, while Lively is 35 and Baldoni is 39. Author of the book Colleen Hoover explained in an interview that she wanted to age the characters up in the movie in an effort to correct a mistake she made in the book. She said, "Back when I wrote It Ends With Us, the new adult [genre] was very popular. You were writing college-age characters. That's what I was contracted to do. I made Lily very young. I didn't know that neurosurgeons went to school for 50 years. There's not a 20-something neurosurgeon. As I started making this movie, I'm like, 'We need to age them out, because I messed up.' So, that's my fault."
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Japan Warns of Elevated Risk of Giant Earthquake After Strong One Hits

The official warning came after a 7.1-magnitude temblor struck off the coast of southern Japan on Thursday.

Strong Earthquake Hits Southern Japan

Shake intensity.

By River Akira Davis Kiuko Notoya Hisako Ueno and Victoria Kim

River Akira Davis, Kiuko Notoya and Hisako Ueno reported from Tokyo, and Victoria Kim from Seoul.

Japan’s meteorological agency said on Thursday that there was a higher-than-usual chance that an immense earthquake could hit the country in the next few days, following a 7.1-magnitude temblor off the southern island of Kyushu.

Japan has long expected a major earthquake to occur along the Nankai Trough off its eastern coast. As of last year, researchers said there was a 60 percent chance that an earthquake of magnitude 8 to 9 — even more devastating than the one in 2011 that laid waste to the country’s northeast coast and knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant — would occur in the trough area over the next 20 years.

After the 7.1-magnitude quake on Thursday, Japan’s meteorological agency convened a group of experts to evaluate whether it could be related to the long-anticipated bigger disaster, called a “Nankai Trough megathrust earthquake.”

Experts warn that an earthquake between two tectonic plates that converge along the Nankai megathrust fault, which runs from Kyushu north through Tokyo, could cause devastation. It could extensively damage cities throughout Japan, potentially cause a tsunami and lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

“The possibility of a large-scale earthquake occurring in the area of ​​the Nankai Trough is relatively higher than usual,” the meteorological agency said in a statement late Thursday.

The risk that an earthquake of magnitude of 8 or higher would occur after one with a magnitude of 7 is particularly elevated for about a week after the initial temblor, the agency said.

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