At least eight persons are reported to have died in a powerful quake that hit the Ishikawa Prefecture in western Japan on Monday, January 1. The quake measuring 7.6, occurred around 4.10 pm local time, The New York Times reports. The number of injured persons is still unclear at this point, though various reports say that dozens have been injured and more than a 100 have lost their homes in fires caused by the quake.
According to CNN, tsunami warnings have been lifted by government authorities as of January 2 morning. CNN also reports that waves were seen rising to four feet in several areas across Japan’s coast in the aftermath of the quake. However, The New York Times said authorities have warned of possible aftershocks in the coming days.
NYT also says that immediately after the quake, the Japan Meteorological Department had issued a warning that tsunami waves could occur, reaching up to 16 feet in the Noto Peninsula near the Japan Sea — the epicentre. Residents were asked to make emergency evacuations to higher ground. Fortunately, the warnings were downgraded in the hours that followed and by January 2, all tsunami warnings were called off, NYT further reports.
Currently, 45,700 homes have no power. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that the authorities were facing a “battle against time” to rescue those trapped under debris, The Guardian reports. Over 1,000 army personnel were dispatched to the remote Noto Peninsula, but have been slowed down by damaged roads and cracks on airport runways, The Guardian further says. Several reports also say that shock waves were felt several hundred kilometres away in Tokyo, several hundred kilometres away from the epicentre in the Noto Peninsula.
In March 2011, a quake measuring 8.9 struck Japan and killed 18,000 people. The 2011 quake also triggered tsunamis causing a nuclear threat at the Fukushima power plant.