Japan issues tsunami warnings after powerful earthquake

Buildings shook hundreds of kilometers away

Japanese authorities have issued tsunami warnings for three of its central west coast prefectures following a series of earthquakes in the Sea of ​​Japan, one of which was initially reported to have a magnitude of 7.6.

A 1.2-meter tsunami was confirmed to have reached the city of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture. Japanese public broadcaster NHK warned that water flows could reach 5 meters.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings for Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama prefectures.

Eleven significant aftershocks occurred between 16:06 and 16:48, with the strongest, measuring 7.6 and 7 on the Japanese seismic scale, recorded at 16:10 off the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. Buildings in Tokyo shook 190 miles (300 km) away, The Guardian reported.

Broadcaster NHK issued warnings urging people to quickly evacuate to higher ground and beware of aftershocks and further tsunamis.

Government spokesman Hayashi Yoshimasa told an emergency news conference that authorities were still checking the extent of the damage and warned residents to prepare for the possibility of further earthquakes.

Footage shown by NHK showed buildings collapsing in Ishikawa. More than 36,000 households were without electricity in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures, according to utility provider Hokuriku Electric Power.

It is known that earthquakes occurring off the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan cause a tsunami that can reach the shore in less than 10 minutes, faster than on the Pacific coast, The Guardian notes. A magnitude 9 earthquake in 2011 caused a tsunami that took about 30 minutes to reach the coastline.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority said there were no reports of any irregularities at nuclear power plants along the Sea of ​​Japan, including five operating reactors at Kansai Electric Power’s Ohi and Takahama plants in Fukui Prefecture.

The Shika Hokuriku nuclear power plant in Ishikawa, which was closest to the quake site, had already shut down two of its reactors before the quake for routine inspection and did not suffer any impacts from the quake, the agency said.

Japan is a country prone to earthquakes. The powerful earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, killed 18,000 people. The disaster destroyed cities and triggered nuclear accidents in Fukushima. Almost all of Japan’s nuclear power plants were mothballed after the disaster.