A powerful earthquake of 7.6-magnitude struck central Japan on the first day of 2024, destroying buildings, knocking out power to thousands of homes, disrupting travel to the region and triggering warnings for the residents to evacuate some areas on the country’s west coast.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings for the coastal prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata, and Toyama. A significant tsunami warning was initially issued for Ishikawa, the first since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan, but was later downgraded.
The quake even rattled buildings in Tokyo, which is 500 kilometers away from Wajima on the opposite coast.
According to Hokuriku Electric Power, about 36,000 households in the prefectures of Ishikawa and Toyama have lost power.
Several residences have been demolished, and army units have been ordered to assist with rescue operations, according to top government spokeswoman Yoshimasa Hayashi, who added that authorities are still assessing the extent of the damage.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned the citizens saying “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.”
More powerful quakes in the area, where seismic activity has been simmering for more than three years, are possible in the coming days, according to JMA spokesman Toshihiro Shimoyama.
According to Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, no anomalies have been detected at nuclear power plants in the Sea of Japan, including five active reactors at Kansai Electric Power’s Ohi and Takahama plants in Fukui Prefecture.
The 2011 earthquake and tsunami killed approximately 20,000 people, damaged towns, and caused nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima.
Another quake, known as the Great Hanshin Earthquake, struck western Japan in 1995, killing over 6,000 people, mostly in the city of Kobe.