Strong earthquakes shook central Japan on Monday, killing at least two people, destroying buildings, cutting off electricity to tens of thousands of homes, and sending residents in some coastal areas rushing to higher ground after a tsunami warning.
The quake, with an initial magnitude of 7.6, caused waves nearly one meter high in areas along the western coast of Japan and neighboring South Korea, and authorities said larger waves could follow.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings to the coastal prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama.
Initially, a major tsunami warning was issued for Ishikawa but it was later downgraded to eventually become a notice, meaning waves up to one meter high are possible. The warning is the first since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.
This was the strongest earthquake in the region in more than four decades, according to the US Geological Survey. The Japanese Meteorological Agency recorded 21 earthquakes with a minimum magnitude of four on the Noto Peninsula in just over an hour and a half.
Russia, North Korea and South Korea also issued tsunami warnings in some areas.
Japanese government spokesman Hayashi Yoshimasa told reporters that some homes were destroyed and fires broke out, and army units were sent to assist in rescue operations.
NTV quoted local police as saying that an elderly man was declared dead after a building collapsed in the town of Shika in Ishikawa.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, in statements to reporters, that he had instructed search and rescue teams to do everything in their power to save lives, despite the difficulty of reaching the affected areas due to broken roads.
Toshihiro Shimoyama, an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency, warned of more strong tremors in the coming days in the region, which has witnessed seismic activity for more than three years.
The government said that, as of Monday evening, it had ordered the evacuation of more than 97,000 people in nine areas on the western coast of the main island of Honshu in Japan.
In statements to the press shortly after the earthquake, Kishida also warned residents to prepare for more disasters.
“I urge residents of areas expected to be hit by tsunami waves to evacuate as soon as possible,” Kishida said.
There were reports of at least 30 buildings collapsing in Wajima, a town with a population of about 30,000 people, and a large fire engulfed a number of buildings.
The earthquake also shook buildings in the capital, Tokyo, about 500 kilometers from Wajima on the opposite coast.
Hokuriku Electric Power Company said that electricity was still cut off to about 32,000 homes in Ishikawa as of this evening, with temperatures dropping to near freezing during the night in some areas.
Tohoku Electric Power Company reported that 700 homes were still without electricity in neighboring Niigata Prefecture.
Telecommunications companies announced the interruption of telephone and Internet services in some areas.
Transport authorities said 40 train lines and two high-speed rail services leading to the quake-hit area suspended operations, six highways were closed and one Ishikawa airport had to close due to a crack in the runway.
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