2024-01-01 16:52:58
Violent earthquakes shook central Japan on Monday, causing significant damage and waves more than a meter high in some areas, prompting authorities to order the population to evacuate and head to higher ground.
The earthquakes occurred on the Noto Peninsula, in Ishikawa Prefecture, around 4:10 p.m. local time (07:10 GMT), reported the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Japanese authorities urged the population to take shelter due to the risk of giant waves.
“All residents should immediately move to higher ground,” NHK television channel urged.
“We are aware that your homes and belongings are very dear to you, but your lives are more important than anything else. Run to the highest possible areas,” urged the presenter.
Japan today suffered an earthquake much stronger than the one in Morocco in 2023 and similar to the one that left thousands dead in Turkey and Syria. But the country’s magnificent preparation prevents a tragedy like that of those countries.pic.twitter.com/QnysUJcYKn
— Zigor Aldama 齐戈 (@zigoraldama)
January 1, 2024
Shortly after, the first consequences began to be felt on the coasts. Waves 1.2 meters high hit the port of Wajima, on the Noto Peninsula, at 4:21 p.m. (07:21 GMT), the Japanese meteorological agency announced.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, based in Hawaii, however, reported that the risk was behind us. “The tsunami threat has largely passed,” the US agency declared.
Given the possible risks, the transportation authority closed highways in the area near the epicenter and Japan Railways announced that high-speed trains between Tokyo and Ishikawa prefecture were interrupted.
The Tsunami alert remains prevalent in the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa (Wajima), Japan, after the Earthquake of magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale.
The whole world should be praying for Japan.???????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/8r9UtbVr72
— John Nicolas Vizcaya (@JuanNicolasVizc)
January 1, 2024
The government, on the other hand, specified that no consequences were recorded in the country’s nuclear power plants.
“It has been confirmed that there are no anomalies at the Shika nuclear power plant (located in Ishikawa prefecture, ed.) or at other sites at the moment,” declared government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi.
In Ishikawa and the neighboring prefectures of Toyama and Niigata, some 33,500 homes were left without electricity.
“Horrible situation”
The Hawaii-based warning center had warned that there was a risk of dangerous waves “within a 300 km radius around the epicenter along the coast of Japan.”
Some cities in the Russian Far East also issued alerts for possible tsunami risk, although without carrying out evacuations.
The authorities of Vladivostok, a Russian city of 600,000 inhabitants, advised fishermen to return to port, stating that they were expecting a wave of 300 cm.
In Japan, the damage caused by the earthquakes mainly affected old houses, which are usually made of wood.
Government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi noted “six cases” of people who were in collapsed buildings in the Ishikawa area.
Images on television also showed a major fire that devastated several buildings in Wajima.
In a video on the social network X, old houses could be seen destroyed. “It’s the Matsunami district of Noto. We are in a horrible situation. Please help us. “My city is in a horrible situation,” lamented one person in the recording.
Japan: tsunami warning after an earthquake.
The 7.6 magnitude earthquake occurred on the main island of the Japanese archipelago and could cause a tsunami. Japanese authorities warn that waves could reach a height of up to 5 meters. /jr pic.twitter.com/m13LtTrbjw
— DW Español (@dw_espanol)
January 1, 2024
The memory of Fukushima
The largest in this long series of earthquakes was initially recorded with a magnitude of 7.4, before being revised upwards to 7.6 by the Japanese agency (JMA).
In total, more than 50 earthquakes of magnitude 3.2 or greater were recorded on the Noto peninsula in a period of four hours. The most important one took place at 4:10 p.m. (07:10 a.m.) at the northeastern tip of the peninsula.
Located in the so-called “ring of fire” of the Pacific, Japan is one of the countries in the world where earthquakes are most frequent.
The archipelago applies extremely strict building regulations, so buildings are often able to withstand strong earthquakes, and residents are accustomed to these types of situations.
But the traumatic memory of the terrible 9.0 magnitude earthquake persists in the country, followed by a gigantic tsunami that in March 2011 caused a catastrophe that left some 20,000 dead or missing.
That catastrophe included the Fukushima nuclear accident, the worst recorded in the world since Chernobyl in 1986. The tsunami caused three reactors at the Japanese nuclear power plant to melt down.
Then, in March 2022, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake off the coast of Fukushima shook large areas of eastern Japan and caused three deaths.
The capital, Tokyo, was devastated by a major earthquake a century ago, in 1923.
This is what the waves look like right now in Ishikawa Prefecture in Wajima, Japan, after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake.
The Tsunami alert is increasingly growing. All countries must send humanitarian aid to Japan. pic.twitter.com/89wDhEne6C
— John Nicolas Vizcaya (@JuanNicolasVizc)
January 1, 2024
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