Japan issues tsunami warnings after earthquake hits

A major earthquake struck Japan on December 8, causing the country’s meteorological agency to record several tsunami waves.

According to The National plus agencies, the Japan Meteorological Agency had issued a tsunami warning, with one of the waves hitting a port in Aomori 30 minutes after the initial alert.

A report by the US Geological Survey highlighted that the magnitude-7.6 tremor occurred at 2.15pm just off Misawa on the east coast of Japan at a depth of 53 kilometres.

There has been much footage circulating online of the earthquake, showing shattered glass scattered across the roads.  Many residents of Hachinohe have had to flee their homes and seek shelter at the city hall.

Japan regularly suffers from severe earthquakes. In January 2024, Japan was hit by a deadly earthquake that left 48 people dead. Over 30 buildings collapsed in the town of Ishikawa following the 7.6-magnitude quake and 36,000 homes lost power in Ishikawa and Toyama. In 2011 an earthquake killed over 15,000 people in the country.

The most recent earthquake in Japan was also felt in Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido, where alarms rang on smartphones to alert residents.

Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency announced that 23 people had been injured, including one who was severely hurt. The public broadcaster NHK reported that most of those injured in the quake were hit by falling objects.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minoru Kihara, urged residents to stay in a safe place on higher ground or to seek shelter until state warnings are lifted. He confirmed that roughly 800 homes are without electricity.

He also added that he has not “received any reports yet of abnormalities” from the two nuclear plants in northern Japan.

Sanae Takaichi, who became Japan’s first female prime minister after winning a strong parliamentary majority, spoke briefly to reporters and stated that the government had set up an emergency task force to assess the damage. She said, “We are putting people’s lives first and doing everything we can.”

The National, Maghrebi.org