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First tsunami waves hit Japan after major quake: weather agency
Waves as high as 1.2 meters (four feet) hit Wajima port in Ishikawa prefecture at 4:21 pm (0721 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said, after the US Geological Survey and other agencies registered a major 7.5 magnitude quake little more than 10 minutes earlier.
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This image taken in Hong Kong on January 1, 2024 shows a warning message on a screen from a live feed on NHK World asking people to evacuate from the area after a series of major earthquakes hit central Japan. (AFP/Mladen Antonov)
T
he first tsunami waves, some more than a metre high, arrived on the north coast of central Japan on Monday after a series of powerful earthquakes rocked the region.
Waves as high as 1.2 meters (four feet) hit Wajima port in Ishikawa prefecture at 4:21 pm (0721 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said, after the US Geological Survey and other agencies registered a major 7.5 magnitude quake little more than 10 minutes earlier.
Earlier US and Japanese agencies warned that hazardous tsunami waves of up to five metres were possible along the north coast of central Japan on Monday within 300 kilometres of a magnitude 7.5 quake's epicentre.
"Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within 300 km of the epicenter along the coasts of Japan," the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, while the Japan Meteorological Agency warned the waves could be up to five metres high.
Russia's emergencies ministry said that parts of the western coast Sakhalin island, situated close to Japan on Russia's Pacific seaboard, were under threat of tsunami, and that the local population was being evacuated, state news agency TASS reported on Monday.
Authorities are still assessing the extent of the damage and residents need to prepare for any more tremors, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in comments aired on NHK.
"Residents need to stay on alert for further possible quakes and I urge people in areas where tsunamis are expected to evacuate as soon as possible," Kishida said.
Footage aired by NHK showed a building collapsing in a plume of dust in the coastal city of Suzu and residents in Kanazawa city cowering under tables as tremors shook their home. The quake also jolted buildings in the capital Tokyo on the opposite coast.
More than 36,000 households had lost power in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures, utilities provider Hokuriku Electric Power said.
High speed rail services to Ishikawa have been suspended while telecom operators Softbank.T and reported phone and internet service disruptions in Ishikawa and Niigata, according to their websites.
