Tokyo CNN –
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck western Japan on Monday afternoon, triggering tsunami warnings as far away as eastern Russia and a warning for residents to evacuate affected coastal areas of Japan as quickly as possible.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake struck at 4:10 p.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), about 42 kilometers (26 miles) northeast of Anamizu in Ishikawa Prefecture.
The Japan Meteorological Agency immediately issued a tsunami warning along coastal regions in western Japan, and the first waves hit the coast just over ten minutes later.
Some of the first reports came from the city of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture, where tsunami waves of about 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) occurred around 4:21 p.m., according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. No immediate damage was reported.
Officials in the city of Suzu in Ishikawa told CNN that buildings were damaged and there were reports of injuries. According to NHK, police in the city said some people were trapped in damaged houses. No deaths have been reported so far.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, there was a major tsunami warning in the city of Noto in Ishikawa, with waves expected to reach around 5 meters.
It was the first major tsunami warning since 2011, according to a spokesman for the Ishikawa Prefectural Emergency Management Agency.
Under the Japanese tsunami warning system, waves expected to be less than 1 meter in height fall under the “Tsunami Warning,” while waves expected to exceed 3 meters fall under the “Tsunami Warning” and waves , which are expected to exceed 5 meters, fall under the “Severe Tsunami Warning”.
In a televised address earlier, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi urged people living in areas under a tsunami warning to evacuate to higher ground.
Footage from NHK showed cameras shaking violently as waves crashed against the shore as the quake shook Ishikawa Prefecture.
Houses were also shaken by the earthquake, with images showing collapsed roofs and shaken foundations.
Some services on Japan's Shinkansen high-speed trains have been suspended.
Videos on social media showed the aftermath of the quake, with store aisles littered with goods. A clip filmed from inside a train showed signposts on the platform shaking badly from the vibrations.
According to the Hokuriku Electric Power Company, more than 32,500 households in Ishikawa Prefecture were without power after the quake.
Japan's Kansai Electric Power Company said in a statement on X that no abnormalities had been reported at nuclear power plants in the region.
The strong quake was reportedly followed by a series of strong aftershocks The USGS.
A magnitude 6.2 aftershock at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) occurred about 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) southwest of Anamizu at 4:18 p.m. local time, according to reports The USGS.
About 36 miles (58 kilometers) away, quakes of magnitude 5.2 were recorded, according to the USGS, and another aftershock of magnitude 5.6 was reported closer to the original quake.
The country's weather agency warned that strong aftershocks could occur over the next three days to a week and warned of possible building collapses and landslides.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said authorities were working to assess possible damage in affected areas.
“We immediately set up the headquarters of the Prime Minister's Disaster Response Office. As we prioritize human lives, we make every effort to assess the damage – and make every effort to respond to disasters,” the prime minister wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
Waves of less than one meter were reported in a number of other areas along Japan's west coast, including 80-centimeter waves in the city of Toyama, 40-centimeter waves in the ports of Kashiwazaki and Kanazawa, and 20-centimeter waves on the islands Tobishima and Sado.
The South Korean Meteorological Agency said it was monitoring possible sea level changes in the east coast areas of Gangneung, Yang Yang and Goseong of Gangwon province and the city of Pohang.
A tsunami threat was also reported in the eastern Russian cities of Vladivostok, Nakhodka and the island of Sakhalin – as these areas face the Sea of Japan – Russian state media TASS reported. No evacuations have been reported so far.
This is a groundbreaking story. Updates to follow.