2024-01-01 23:10:03
Japan Meteorological Agency has lowered the alert on Monday night tsunami until a warning hours after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that has shaken the west coast of the country and has caused at least four deaths and several injuries and trappings due to building collapses.
The “major tsunami warning” issued by Ishikawa Prefecture has been changed to a “tsunami warning”, although They have urged the population not to return to their homes in risk areas given the danger of new earthquakes in the area and therefore maintains the evacuation recommendation, reports Japanese public television NHK. This alert level had not been active since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency has reported that some 51,000 people have received evacuation orders in five prefectures, including a thousand workers and soldiers from the Wajima Air Base.
Tsunami alert in Japan after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake
The head of Earthquake Information Planning at the Japan Meteorological Agency, Toshihiro Shimoyama, appeared at a press conference this Monday afternoon to warn that there will be new waves of significant height in the affected areas and therefore people should remain on high ground until further notice.
There is also a risk of new landslides that could cause landslides and building collapses, which is why Shimoyama has urged the population to remain alert.
Los earthquakes They could repeat themselves over the next week, especially over the next two or three days. And at least a hundred aftershocks have already been detected, all of less intensity than the original, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The earthquake, with a hypocenter around ten kilometers deep, was the most intense of the chain of 20 earthquakes recorded between 08:06 and 09:29 (Spanish peninsular time) in the vicinity of the coast of Ishikawa and the neighboring prefecture of Niigata. .
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to lead the authorities’ response after the earthquake. Thus, he has warned that “the Self-Defense Forces – Armed Forces – will not have easy access to the affected areas” due to road closures.
Kishida has pointed out the rescue of people trapped behind the rubble as the main priority. “They must be rescued as soon as possible due to the risk of sinking,” he indicated.
He has also ordered mobilize resources such as drinking water, food, blankets and fuel by air and sea due to the low winter temperatures in the area. Below freezing temperatures are expected in Wajima in the coming hours.
Also at an institutional level, the Japanese Imperial House has announced the cancellation of visits to the Imperial Palace for the traditional New Year’s Reception with the Japanese imperial family, headed by Emperor Naruhito. This is the first time that this event has been canceled due to a natural disaster, according to the Imperial House itself.
Four deceased
Earthquake has caused significant material damage, the collapse of some buildings in which people could be trapped and a fire. In addition, the deaths of four people have been confirmed in Ishikawa prefecture, according to provincial authorities.
Two people have died from cardiorespiratory arrest in the city of Nanao and an elderly man reportedly died after a house collapsed.
Hospitals in the prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata, Fukui, Toyama and Gifu have received injuries, most from the impact of objects displaced during the earthquake. Some of them have fractures.
The city of Kurobe has received the worst effects of the earthquake. At least a dozen buildings have collapsed and at least six people have been trapped under the rubble, according to the Chief Secretary of the Japanese Cabinet, Hayashi Yoshimasa, the first senior government official to appear before the media.
Besides, Firefighters are also fighting a large fire that broke out in the city, that is spreading through the Kawaicho neighborhood without any information on victims so far, as reported by the Disaster Prevention Division in a statement collected by ‘Asahi Shimbun’.
Firefighters in the city of Wajima, in Ishikawa, have received more than 50 reports of home collapses and have also responded to reports of people trapped in buildings. In addition, a fire broke out that affected fifty businesses and homes in a market.
The authorities of the city of Nomi have confirmed a hundred displaced people sheltered in the City Hall headquarters and in the Yamagata prefecture there are about 2,000 evacuees housed in municipal facilities.
Nuclear power plants
The Japanese Government has confirmed that some 30,000 homes have been left without electricity throughout the prefecture but the nuclear power plants in the area do not seem to have been affected, according to the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hayashi Yoshimasa, who appeared at a press conference around 5:00 p.m.
Later, the Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Authority reported an explosion and a burning smell at the Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa prefecture. The incident has caused the loss of power of a transformer, but the two nuclear reactors continue to function properly thanks to the secondary systems.
Hokuriku Electric Power Company has specified that there are about 33,000 homes without power in Ishikawa Prefecture, including 10,000 in Wajima; 7,300 in Noto and 7,100 in Suzu.
There is only evidence of the fire of an electrical transformer at the Shiga nuclear plantin the prefecture of the same name, but the flames have been extinguished and the plant itself is not affected.
The operator Kansai Electric Power Company has not confirmed any damage to the Ohi and Takahama nuclear power plants, in the prefecture of Fukui, two of the most vulnerable on the western coast in the event of a possible earthquake, reports the Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant has not been affected at the moment either, according to a statement from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported by the ‘Asahi Shimbun’.
Residents of the country’s capital have reported tremors in buildings as a result of the earthquake, but at the moment there are no reports of victims in the metropolis. Russia has issued wave alerts for the island of Sakhalin and Vladivostok, although it has not given an evacuation order. South Korea, and specifically its coastal province of Gangwon, is under a mild tsunami warning.
As for transportation, several Shinkansen or bullet train lines have been affected and the company ANA, All Nippon Airways, has canceled the four flights scheduled for Tuesday from Noto airport, in Wajima, Ishikawa, to Tokyo Airport. Haneda, in Tokyo.
#Japan #lifts #tsunami #warning #earthquake #recommends #evacuees #return