Japan issues tsunami warning after magnitude 7.4 earthquake

Japanese authorities issued a tsunami warning on Monday after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Ishikawa, in the center of Honshu, the country’s main island. An elderly man died after a building collapsed.

State broadcaster NHK TV warned of waves that could reach five meters along almost the entire west coast and urged the public to get to higher ground or onto the roofs of buildings as quickly as possible.

The alert level, originally issued at 16:00 local time (7:00 Portuguese time), has since been lowered from a “significant tsunami warning” to a “tsunami warning”. The alert was later reduced to a warning at around 4:00 pm in Portuguese.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (AMJ) issued a tsunami warning for three regions: Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida asked Japanese living in areas affected by the earthquake to move to safe areas.

“I would like to emphasize that citizens should be very careful and we urge people living in these areas to [abrangidos por avisos de tsunami] try to leave,” Fumio Kishida said in statements to the press.

The tsunami threat associated with strong earthquakes has been “largely eliminated,” the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Six people under the rubble

Six people were trapped under the rubble of collapsed houses, the Japanese government said.

A 1.2-metre tsunami also hit the Wajima port in Ishikawa, where a large fire broke out, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.

Hospitals are having a hard time treating people.

In recent hours, many people have been admitted to local hospitals with injuries. The mission to help patients is complicated by energy shortages, forcing hospitals to run on generators.

Some doctors cannot get to the hospital because many roads there are closed. A hospital in Wajima treats people in the parking lot.

Homes without electricity and limited transportation

The shock destroyed some homes and forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes without electricity. Transport also has restrictions.

According to media reports, more than 36,000 homes in Ishikawa and Toyama were left without electricity. Reuters. Several flights to regions affected by the earthquake were cancelled.

Authorities are still assessing the damage and warning residents to expect further aftershocks. Army units were mobilized to assist in rescue operations.

AMJ allows for the possibility of earthquakes of equal or greater magnitude in the coming days.

Footage broadcast on local television showed the building collapsing and people running away in fear.

Japan’s nuclear regulator confirms that no irregularities have been detected at its nuclear reactors.

The earthquake occurred on a national holiday traditionally used by the Japanese to visit temples as a way to mark the ushering in of the new year.

Earthquakes that occurred in Japan

This is the first time an earthquake in Japan has reached this magnitude since 2018.

In 2011, another earthquake killed about 20,000 people and destroyed several communities. In 1995, more than six thousand people died in an earthquake that was felt mainly in the city of Kobe.

Russian cities are also on alert

Cities in Russia’s Far East, including Vladivostok, have issued tsunami warnings despite not being evacuated at this stage.

“Coastal areas of the western coast of Sakhalin may suffer from tsunami waves,” the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a Telegram, adding that the size of the waves is currently not expected to exceed 50 centimeters.

“This wave height does not pose a threat to the lives of the population,” he said, appealing to the 445 thousand residents of this island northwest of Japan to “remain calm.”