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Earthquake of 7.6 magnitude rocks Japan; triggers tsunami on northern coast
A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan's northeastern coast after an earthquake
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck Japan on Monday evening, triggering a tsunami of up to 50 centimetres in Pacific coast communities, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). It said that the surges could potentially get higher.
The tsunami struck the Hokkaido prefecture town of Urakawa and the Aomori prefecture port of Mutsu Ogawara, JMA said.
Many local media reports said that several people were injured. Public broadcaster NHK reported that several people were injured at a hotel in the Aomori town of Hachinohe.
The earthquake was recorded at a depth of 53.1 km at 14:15 (UTC), as per the United States Geological Survey. The epicentre was 73 kilometres east-northeast of Misawa, a city in northern Japan. It reportedly struck off the coast of Amori and Hokkaido, leading to a tsunami alert for the region.
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Japan Meteorological Agency said that a tsunami of 50 cm was measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture, just south of Aomori, adding that tsunami levels of 40 to 50 cm struck other coastal communities in the region.
Earlier, a warning was issued for a tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) which could hit Japan's northeastern coast after the earthquake.
The Japanese agency said that the tsunami warning was issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, after the quake jolted a large part of Japan's north and east.
Talking about the preparedness, Japan's PM Sanae Takaichi, in a brief comment to reporters, said that the government has set up an emergency task force to assess the extent of damage. “We are putting people’s lives first and doing everything we can," she was quoted by Associated Press.
Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre informed that hazardous tsunami waves from the Japan earthquake are possible within 1000 km of the epicentre along the coasts of Japan and Russia.
As per a Reuters report, East Japan Railway suspended some train services in the area. Located in the "Ring of Fire" arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches, the country accounts for about 20% of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or greater.
Earlier, in July this year, an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 hit a remote island in southwestern Japan. The earthquake's epicentre was off the coast of the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima, but a tsunami warning was not issued.
Russia's Kamchatka region was also hit by a massive earthquake of magnitude 8.8 in July, triggering tsunami waves for neighbouring nations. It was the world's biggest earthquake in 14 years. In 2011, a 9.1 magnitude megathrust earthquake struck Japan and caused a major tsunami, devastating the country.
