Hours after a strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the coastal nation’s central areas, Pakistan’s ambassador to Japan, Raza Bashir Tarar, has verified that all Pakistanis residing in Japan are “safe so far”.
The envoy issued a statement saying, “A hotline has been set up for the Pakistanis stuck in trouble,” as authorities advised residents to flee to higher ground in response to a succession of strong earthquakes that damaged homes and disrupted highways.
Additionally, the ambassador advised foreigners residing in the coastal prefectures of Niigata, Toyama, and Ishikawa affected by the earthquake to follow local government directives.
BREAKING: Impact of 7.6 magnitude earthquake in central Japanpic.twitter.com/Kjsudzg6fo
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) January 1, 2024
Through the tweet, the embassy informed the public that following a strong earthquake, the Japanese government had issued tsunami warnings in the areas of Ishikawa, Niigata, Toyama, and surrounding territories.
“The issue is being monitored by the Pakistani consulate in Tokyo. May Allah (SWT) safeguard each and every one of us. Aa’meen,” the embassy stated further.
— Pakistan Embassy Japan (@PakinJapan) January 1, 2024
Around 4:10 p.m. (0710 GMT), a significant 7.5-magnitude earthquake occurred in the Noto region of Ishikawa prefecture, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Japan’s meteorological office claimed that in less than ninety minutes, the country’s central area was struck by a series of twenty-one earthquakes measuring 4.0 or higher.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said that around 4:21 p.m. (0721 GMT), or roughly 10 minutes after the sharpest quake, tsunami waves as high as 1.2 meters (four feet) struck Wajima port in Ishikawa prefecture.
NHK, the national television, declared following the earthquakes that “all residents must evacuate immediately to higher ground.”
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, located in Hawaii, stated that dangerous tsunami waves might occur within 300 kilometers (190 miles) of the epicentre of the earthquake along the coast, on the Sea of Japan side of Japan’s main island of Honshu.
However, the JMA stated that a far larger tsunami—five meters—was predicted to hit Noto in the same area.
According to the Japanese government, it is still determining the extent of the damage and the number of victims.
According to local utilities, over 33,500 households in the prefectures of Toyama, Ishikawa, and Niigata, which are close to the epicentre, were without electricity.
A structure was on fire in Wajima city, Ishikawa, according to television sources, and AFP correspondents reported that residences rocked in central Tokyo.
A video clip showing a row of wooden houses with their roofs and walls collapsed in was shared on the social media platform X.
This is Noto’s Matsunami neighborhood. Our predicament is terrible. Please come assist us. “The situation in my town is terrible,” someone heard on camera stated.
After the earthquakes in Japan, authorities declared Sakhalin island and Vladivostok in far eastern Russia to be under “alert” status because of the potential for tsunamis.
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