Share and Follow
TSUNAMI waves have smashed into the coast of Japan after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked the country.
The quake hit the central region of Japan shortly after 4pm local time – triggering calls for residents to “run” to higher ground and prepare for aftershocks.
“All residents must evacuate immediately to higher ground,” national broadcaster NHK said after the quake hit Honshu island earlier today.
A major tsunami warning was issued for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings for the rest of the northwestern coast of Honshu.
NHK warned that torrents of water could reach as high as 16.5ft and urged people to flee to high land or a top of a nearby building as quickly as possible.
“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,” they told viewers.
A tsunami around 1 metre high struck parts of the west coast along the Sea of Japan, with a larger wave of 6ft expected to arrive in Noto, Japan’s meteorological agency said.
The affected area includes a nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator, said it was checking for problems but there were no immediate reports of any irregularities.
The government is set to hold a news conference later in the day.
Reports of damage were not immediately available.
The country is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0 magnitude undersea quake off northeastern Japan in March 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing.
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.
South Korea’s meteorological agency also warned that sea level in some areas along the east coast may rise.
