JAPAN is bracing itself for 16ft swells to smash into its coast after experiencing a series of powerful earthquakes that sparked tsunami alerts in three other nations.
The country is dealing with the destructive wake of at least 80 quakes as emergency services battle to save people buried alive, control a major fire and prepare for expected landslides.
A quick succession of dozens of earthquakes struck Japan’s main island of Honshu today – the worst being a 7.6 magnitude that hit at 4.10pm local time.
The quakes triggered urgent tsunami alerts, with officials warning that waves could be as high as 16ft in some places.
Already waves of 3ft have been battering parts of Japan’s west coast.
The worst affected areas are Toyama, Ishikawa and Niigata, which are now facing the risks of landslides and collapsing houses as aftershocks are set to continue for the next few days.
Read more World News
At least six people are buried under the rubble, the government said, adding that the army had been deployed to aid rescue efforts.
A huge fire is also currently raging in the residential area of Wajima, Ishikawa which was close to the epicentre of the successive earthquakes.
It has engulfed a row of houses, with people being evacuated in the dark, some with blankets and others carrying babies.
The after-effects of the earthquakes are being felt in North Korea, South Korea and Russia’s Far East, which have all issued tsunami warnings to local populations.
Most read in The Sun
And more severe earthquakes are expected in the coming hours and days, officials said.
Japan’s meteorological agency warned that there is a “very high risk” of further buildings collapsing.
“Do not wander away from the safe place,” they said, adding: “History tells us that the similar scale of earthquakes can reoccur within two to three days.”
Earlier today, Japanese TV channels interrupted normal services with warnings including a video of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urging people in danger areas to “evacuate as soon as possible” to higher ground.
“We realise your home, your belongings are all precious to you, but your lives are important above everything else! Run to the highest ground possible,” an alarmed presenter on national broadcaster NHK told viewers.
Government spokesperson, Hayashi Yoshimasa, warned it was critical for people in coastal areas to get away from the oncoming tsunami waves.
“Every minute counts. Please evacuate to a safe area immediately,” he said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a “large tsunami” warning earlier today, meaning waves of up to 16ft, but no further major incidents were reported so the agency downgraded its warning to tsunamis of up to 9.3ft.
Around 33,500 households around the epicentre, in Toyama, Ishikawa and Niigata prefectures, were without power, local utilities said.
The country’s nuclear authority said that nuclear plants in the area had not reported any irregularities and there was no risk of radioactive leaks.
“I have never experienced anything like this before, it was scary. I went out right away but the ground was shaking,” an elderly man told broadcaster NHK.
“I was scared to see utility poles shaking,” a young boy added.
In South Korea, a tsunami measuring 3ft reached its eastern coast following the quakes in Japan.
South Korea’s meteorological agency has predicted more and larger waves will slam into Gangwon province in the next 24 hours.
The city of Samcheok advised residents to move to areas higher than a three-storey building.
Separately, North Korea issued tsunami warnings for its coast of possible waves of more than 7ft.
Russia has also declared a tsunami alert in the far eastern cities of Vladiovostok, close to Japan’s Pacific seaboard, state news reported.
Emergency services called on people to “remain calm” as they warned that coastal areas may be effected by tsunami waves and told fishermen and those at sea to return to shore.
Japan is one of the most seismically active countries in the world due to its position in the the “Pacific Ring of Fire” where several tectonic plates meet and grind against each other.
The country is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0 magnitude undersea quake off northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people.
Today was the first time since that fateful day that Japan issued a major tsunami warning.
Read more on The Sun
The 2011 tsunami also sent three reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing Japan’s worst post-war disaster and the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
In March 2022, a 7.4-magnitude quake off the coast of Fukushima shook large areas of eastern Japan, killing three people.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Sun
