A 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook Ishikawa Prefecture, on the western coast of central Japan, yesterday, prompting a tsunami alert for much of the archipelago, as well as causing significant damage and leaving many buried. at least six people under the rubble.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the epicenter of the earthquake - which was even felt in Tokyo - was 16 kilometers deep.
Images broadcast by Japanese television or on social networks showed the great strength of the tremor and its destructive power, especially in the town of Wajima, where it caused fires and the most serious damage was recorded.
In this city, of around 27,000 inhabitants, at least thirty single-family homes have suffered serious damage that has left at least six people buried under the rubble.
Up to 9 p.m. (local time), almost 60 aftershocks of the earthquake had been recorded, and the Japan Meteorological Agency warned that during the coming week it is very likely that there will be more earthquakes of the same intensity.
The earthquake also damaged roads and highways in the region, and forced several high-speed train lines to be temporarily suspended.
More than 30,000 homes were reported without power in Ishikawa and another 3,600 in neighboring Niigata, and Japanese authorities said no damage had been detected at any of the country's nuclear power plants, including the Shika plant in Ishikawa prefecture.
The earthquake also forced the activation of the alert for the possible arrival of waves of up to five meters in height in this prefecture, and the arrival of waves of up to three meters in the prefectures of Fukui, Toyama, Hyogo, Niigata and Yamagata.
A tsunami warning of up to one meter was also implemented for the entire western coast of the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido and northern Kyushu Island.
The intensity of the quake and the severity of the alert forced broadcasters on Japan's public broadcaster NHK to almost shout out to people in the area to move to higher ground.
In Wajima, the waves reached a height of 1.2 meters, and in other locations along the western Japanese coast there were sea level rises of less than a meter.
Even authorities in neighboring South Korea reported that the coast of Gangwon Province, which faces the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in both Koreas), received waves of between 20 and 45 centimeters
Fortunately, the water has not caused damage to Japan in South Korea either, although the Japan Meteorological Agency's warning is expected to be activated for several more hours.
The Japanese authorities decided to downgrade only the alert affecting Ishikawa, where waves of three meters were expected yesterday instead of five.
Yesterday's tremor raised the specter of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which killed 20,000 people and released radioactive contamination from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
