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At least six people have been killed in a series of powerful earthquakes on Japan’s west coast. The full extent of the damage could not yet be predicted early Tuesday morning (local time). Live footage from NHK television showed several burned and collapsed houses in the town of Wajima in hard-hit Ishikawa Prefecture. There were still low flames and the fire brigade attended. Thick smoke hung over the area. According to the media, several people were injured.

Japanese television channels reported tidal waves of more than one meter. People were urged to seek safety on high ground or in buildings. A day earlier, the warning for a five-meter high tsunami was withdrawn. However, residents along the entire west coast were still urged to exercise caution due to the ongoing threat of tsunami waves. Tsunami warnings were subsequently also issued on the Korean Peninsula opposite Japan and in eastern Russia.

Several houses collapsed due to the tremors and streets tore open. Several boats lay keel-high in the harbor basin. The government reported six cases in the town of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula, with people buried alive under rubble. A major fire also broke out in the city. The government has set up a crisis team. However, there were no irregularities in the nuclear power plants.

At 4:10 pm (8:10 am CET), the weather authority reported a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6. It happened at a very shallow depth, the epicenter was in the Noto Peninsula region on the Sea of ​​Japan. The authority then issued a strong tsunami warning for Ishikawa Prefecture and lower warnings for the other coastal areas in the west of the archipelago. The earthquake was felt from Hokkaido in northern Japan to the southwestern main island of Kyushu.

The regions were then hit by further tremors. Streets were destroyed, a fire broke out in a factory and goods fell off the shelves in individual shops. Power went out in 34,000 households in Ishikawa and other prefectures. There were reports of burst water pipes. Winter temperatures are currently prevailing in the affected region. Soldiers were sent to the Ishikawa region for recovery work.

The series of earthquakes continued Tuesday morning. Buildings in the vicinity of the million-populated capital Tokyo also started swaying the day before. High-speed trains were temporarily stopped. The National Meteorological Agency warned this week of further strong earthquakes, especially in the next two or three days.

South Korea’s eastern Gangwon province also warned residents of several cities and provinces about tsunamis, national news agency Yonhap reported. After a series of smaller tidal waves in the early evening (local time), the weather bureau later recorded a wave of 67 centimeters off the coastal town of Donghae.

Compared to the tsunami disaster in Japan in March 2011, the tsunami waves in the country were significantly smaller this time. At that time, a magnitude 9 earthquake caused a massive tsunami that destroyed large areas in the northeast and killed about 20,000 people. A disaster occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. (lacquer/sda/dpa)