A 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the coast of central-western Japan today, prompting authorities to declare a tsunami alert and urge locals to leave the affected areas immediately. In the evening the alarm was lifted.
The strong earthquake was preceded by a first shock of magnitude 5.5 in the same area .
Numerous houses collapsed and at least six victims
The violent tremor , according to reports from US and Japanese news agencies, could have caused tsunami waves up to five meters high along the western coast of the country, within 300 kilometers of the earthquake's epicentre.
The first waves, 1.2 meters high, hit the port of Wajima, on the Noto peninsula, at the northern tip of Ishikawa prefecture.
Speaking from his residence in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged the population of the prefectures to respect the evacuation order of the local authorities .
The tsunami warning affected the prefectures of Yamagata, Niigata, Toyama, Fukui and Hyogo.
According to what we learn, the earthquake also caused a fire in a transformer at the Shika nuclear power plant, in Ishikawa prefecture, without causing any anomalies in the operation of the plant. The fire, the spokesperson underlined, was immediately extinguished.
(Unioneonline/vl)