01/01/2024 – 7:14
Warning was directed to regions on the west coast of the Asian country after a preliminary magnitude 7.4 tremor. Residents were urged to leave threatened areas immediately. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a tsunami warning on Monday (01/01) for the western coastal regions of Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama. JMA said Ishikawa prefecture in the Noto region along the Sea of Japan was hit by a series of earthquakes that registered a preliminary magnitude of 7.4.
The agency issued a strong tsunami warning for Ishikawa, while the rest of the northwest coast of the Japanese island of Honshu received lower-level tsunami watches or warnings.
Public broadcaster NHK warned that floods could reach 5 meters in height and that smaller tsunami waves had already been confirmed and reached the coast.
In Russia, emergency services on the island of Sakhalin, in the far east of the country, issued a warning saying that the west coast “may be affected by tsunami waves”.
South Korea's meteorological agency has asked residents of some east coast cities to be alert to possible changes in sea levels.
More than 30,000 homes were left without power in Japan. However, there were no reports of damage or injuries.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in the USA warned of the possibility of dangerous tsunamis within a radius of 300 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake. Ishikawa Prefecture was previously shaken by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in early May, when one person died and 49 were injured.
What is known so far
The Noto region suffered a rapid sequence of tremors, starting with one of magnitude 5.7 at around 4:06 pm local time (4:06 am in Brazil).
Four minutes later, there was another tremor, this time of magnitude 7.6, followed by a series of weaker tremors that lasted about 90 minutes, according to information from JMA. In total, the agency recorded 21 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater.
According to Japanese press reports, buildings shook in areas close to the capital, Tokyo. Broadcasters switched to special programming and made urgent appeals for residents to leave the affected regions.
“We know your home and belongings are precious, but your lives are even more important. Head to the highest place possible,” an NHK presenter told viewers.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government had created a special emergency center to gather information about the earthquakes and tsunami and transmit it to the population as quickly as possible.
Nuclear plants do not record abnormalities
The Japanese government reported that no abnormalities were recorded at nuclear plants located in the areas hit by the earthquakes and also at nearby stations.
Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority said the Shika plant in Ishikawa, the closest to the quake's epicenter, had already stopped its two reactors for regular inspection before the tremors struck.
On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed the main power source at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The ensuing tsunami swamped the emergency generators. As a result, the fuel in three of the nuclear facility's six reactors overheated, causing the core to melt.
As a result, there were several explosions, caused by the accumulation of hydrogen. Images of clouds of radioactive smoke over the plants drew attention around the world. Radioactive particles contaminated more than a thousand square kilometers, and more than 160,000 residents had to leave the region. Around 18,000 people died.
gb (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa, rtr)
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