The west coast of Japan is under tsunami warning, after a strong 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Ishikawa Prefecture this Monday (1). Ishikawa is located in the center of the island of Honshu, in front of the coast of the Sea of Japan. Japanese authorities warned that waves of up to five meters could reach the entire western coast of the country.
The earthquake, which was felt even in Tokyo, occurred on the Noto peninsula, in Ishikawa Prefecture, at 4:10 pm (4:10 am Brasília), at a shallow depth and with intensity 7. This is the maximum level on the Japanese scale, which centers on the destructive capacity of the tremors, not on the intensity.
The first waves, with a height of approximately 1.20 meters, hit the city of Wajima, about 500 kilometers west of Tokyo, at around 4:21 pm (local time, 4:21 am Brasília), according to public broadcaster “NHK”. Other cities in Ishikawa and Niigata prefectures have reported tidal rises of between 540 and 80 centimeters.
Region with the largest nuclear power plant in the world is on alert
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) subsequently reported nearly 20 aftershocks and warned that more earthquakes reaching level 7 on the Japanese scale are very likely to occur over the next week.
The JMA has activated a warning for waves up to five meters high in Ishikawa Prefecture and for waves up to three meters high for the prefectures of Fukui, Toyama, Hyogo, Niigata and Yamagata (visit the official website). The agency also implemented a general tsunami warning for the entire western coast of the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido and the north of the island of Kyushu.
Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said it is reviewing the situation at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture. This plant is the largest in the world in terms of generation capacity, but has remained deactivated since 2011. This happened after a strong earthquake and tsunami hit the northeast of the country, leaving more than 20,000 people dead and causing the Fukushima nuclear accident. To date, no considerable damage has been reported either at this or at other nuclear power plants in the country.
Japanese Prime Minister has already convened crisis cabinet
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's office convened a crisis cabinet to manage the situation. Kishida himself urged citizens to exercise maximum caution in the face of tsunami warnings and asked people in affected areas to move to safe areas.
No damage has been reported so far from the rising waters, but more than 30,000 homes are without electricity in Ishikawa, as are another 3,600 in neighboring Niigata, as a result of the earthquake and multiple aftershocks.
A large fire also broke out in the city of Wajima as a result of the tremors. Several west coast roads also reported significant damage and remain closed. Rail services were also suspended in the northeast of the country and in the center and north of the west coast.
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