An earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck north-central Japan on Monday. Screenshot
Strong earthquakes struck central Japan on Monday. According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, waves more than five meters high could sweep over the area.
The first waves of a tsunami caused by a series of powerful earthquakes in central Japan began washing ashore on Monday, the country's weather agency JMA said. Waves as high as 1.2 meters hit the port of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula at the northern tip of Ishikawa Prefecture (center) at 4:21 p.m. (07:21 GMT), the JMA said, with waves up to five meters high warned high were possible.
“All residents should be evacuated to higher ground immediately,” national broadcaster NHK said after multiple earthquakes struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture after 4 p.m. (0700 GMT). “We understand that you care about your home and your possessions, but your life is more important than anything else. Run to the highest areas possible,” an NHK host added. Highways are closed near the epicenter.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), waves more than five meters high could sweep over the area. “Dangerous tsunami waves (…) are possible within 300 km of the epicenter along the coast of Japan,” warned the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). The strongest of this series of earthquakes, which occurred at 4:10 p.m. (07:10 GMT) on the northeastern tip of the peninsula, was initially recorded at a magnitude of 7.4 before this was revised upwards to 7.5, according to the American Institute of Geophysics USGS and 7.6 according to JMA.
“It has been confirmed that there are currently no anomalies at the Shika Nuclear Power Plant (in Ishikawa Prefecture) and other sites,” government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
Replicas
Additional earthquakes occurred just before or just after the same peninsula: a first of magnitude 5.7 inland at 4:06 p.m. local time, another of magnitude 6.1 at 4:18 p.m., then three more with a magnitude between 4, 5 and 4.8 to 4:32 p.m. local time. Japan is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is one of the countries with the most frequent earthquakes in the world.
Therefore, the archipelago has extremely strict building standards, so buildings are generally able to withstand strong earthquakes and residents are familiar with such situations and regularly prepare for them. But Japan is haunted by the memory of the terrible 9.0 magnitude earthquake that was followed by a huge tsunami on the country's northeast coast in March 2011, a disaster that left about 20,000 people dead and missing. This disaster also led to the Fukushima nuclear accident, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.