In videos, watch tsunami waves hit Japan after massive earthquake strikes Ishikawa

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, January 1

A powerful earthquake and tsunami struck central Japan and its western coast on Monday, triggering warnings for residents to evacuate, knocking out power to thousands of homes and disrupting flights and rail services to the affected region.

Waves as high as 1.2 metres were observed after a series of strong quakes struck Japan's western coast on Monday afternoon, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Earlier, the weather agency issued tsunami warnings for a broad swath of the country's western coast, including Ishikawa, Fukui, Niigata, Toyama, Yamagata and other prefectures, following the earthquakes, Xinhua news agency reported.

Public broadcaster NHK had warned that torrents of water could reach as high as 5 metres and people were urged to flee to high land or on top of a nearby building as quickly as possible.

A tsunami with about 3-metre-high waves was expected to hit Niigata and other prefectures on the western coast of Japan. Smaller tsunami waves were already confirmed to have reached the coastline, according to NHK.

The weather agency said the latest major temblor occurred at 4.10 pm local time (0710 GMT) at a shallow depth, registering a maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. It also shook buildings in central Tokyo. With inputs from agencies

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