The Japanese authorities activated a tsunami alert today, warning of waves of up to five meters along practically its entire western coast after a strong 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Ishikawa prefecture, located in the center of the island of Honshu, the main of the country, off the coast of the Sea of Japan.
The first waves, with a height of approximately 1.20 meters, reached the city of Wajima, about 500 kilometers west of Tokyo at around 4:21 p.m. local time (7:21 GMT), according to public broadcaster NHK, which has activated emergency programming, with presenters shouting at people to stay away from the coast and seek shelter on high ground.
Other towns in Ishikawa or Niigata prefectures have already reported tide rises of between 540 and 80 centimeters. The earthquake, which was felt even in Tokyo, occurred on the Noto peninsula, in Ishikawa prefecture, at 4:10 p.m. (7:10 GMT) at a shallow depth and with an intensity of 7 on the closed Japanese scale of 7 that centers in the destructive capacity of the tremors, rather than in the intensity.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has subsequently reported almost twenty aftershocks and has warned that during the next week it is very likely that more tremors will occur that reach Japanese level 7.
The Tokyo Electric Power company (TEPCO) reported that it is reviewing the status of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, in Niigata prefecture, which is the largest in the world by generation capacity but has remained deactivated since 2011, when a strong earthquake and tsunami hit the northeast of the country, leaving more than 20,000 dead and leading to the Fukushima atomic accident.
The JMA has activated the warning for waves of up to five meters in height in Ishikawa Prefecture and for waves of up to three meters for the prefectures of Fukui, Toyama, Hyogo, Niigata and Yamagata, and has also implemented a general tsunami warning for the entire western coast of the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido and the north of the island of Kyushu.
The Tokyo Electric Power company (TEPCO) reported that it is reviewing the status of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, in Niigata prefecture, which is the largest in the world by generation capacity but has remained deactivated since 2011, when a strong earthquake and tsunami hit the northeast of the country, leaving more than 20,000 dead and leading to the Fukushima atomic accident.
At the moment, no notable damage has been reported either in this or in the rest of the country's nuclear power plants. The office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has convened a crisis cabinet to manage the situation.
Kishida himself urged citizens to exercise maximum caution in the face of tsunami warnings and asked those in the affected areas to evacuate to safe areas.
At the moment no damage has been reported due to the rising water, but more than 30,000 homes without electricity have been reported in Ishikawa and another 3,600 in neighboring Niigata in the same situation due to the earthquake and multiple aftershocks.
A large fire has also started in the city of Wajima as a result of the tremors.
Several roads and highways on the west coast have also reported significant damage and remain closed, while images posted on social media show completely destroyed homes in Ishikawa.
Train services have also been suspended in the northeast of the country and in the center and north of the western coast.
South Korea is already being affected by tsunamis. The first reached its shores at 09:21 GMT at a height of 45 cm. The tsunami may grow after the initial waves and continue for more than 24 hours, the Korean meteorological agency said in an advisory.
South Korea's Gangwon province warned residents to take precautions and evacuate to higher ground, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Security. Waves of up to 0.3 meters could reach the eastern coast of South Korea.
Gangwon province asked residents in emergency text messages to stay away from the coast and evacuate to higher ground. Samcheok City advised residents to move to areas higher than a three-story building, the Ministry of the Interior and Security said.
On the other hand, parts of the western coast of Sakhalin Island and the mainland regions of Primorsk and Khabarovsk, which are located near Japan on the Russian Pacific coast, are under tsunami threat, state news agency TASS reported, citing to officials.
Russian media quoted authorities in the port city of Vladivostok, in the Primorsk region, as saying that anyone sailing in local waters should "urgently return to shore."
