On Monday, the Japanese government ordered the evacuation of more than 90,000 people from 9 prefectures as a result of a series of earthquakes that struck the country, the most severe of which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale.
The Japan Meteorological Agency recorded 21 earthquakes with a minimum magnitude of 4 on the Noto Peninsula in just over an hour and a half, the strongest of which was a magnitude of 7.6 and struck the northern tip of the peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture at 16:10 pm local time (07:10 local time). Greenwich).
The earthquake was initially recorded at a magnitude of 7.4, which was revised by the US Geological Survey to 7.5 and by the Japan Meteorological Agency to 7.6.
The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that the earthquake caused a tsunami wave with a height of 1.2 meters and struck the port of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture at 16:21, prompting the authorities to ask residents to leave the affected areas and take refuge in the highlands.
Some houses in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, were destroyed as a result of the earthquake (French)
The local Kyodo agency quoted the Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency as saying that it had “issued instructions to more than 90,000 people in 9 prefectures to evacuate.”
Power was cut off to about 33,500 homes in Ishikawa, Toyama, and Niigata prefectures, all of which are located on the Sea of Japan side on the island of Honshu, Japan, according to local authorities.
Pictures broadcast on Japanese television also showed a fire breaking out in Wajima, without providing additional details, and many houses collapsed.
Also, major highways were closed on Monday in the vicinity of the earthquake epicenter, according to the road operator, and the East Japan Railway Company announced that it had suspended operations on all Tohoku, Joetsu, and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines due to the earthquake, according to Kyodo.
Japan is constantly witnessing earthquakes due to their occurrence in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” region, which witnesses high seismic activity. This region extends from Southeast Asia to the Pacific basin, so the authorities in the archipelago impose strict building standards so that buildings are generally resistant to strong earthquakes, while the population They are so accustomed to these situations that they prepare for them regularly.
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2024-01-01 18:01:14
