Daily Morning News

Massive earthquake hits Japan, triggering tsunami warnings

Tokyo, CNN — A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck central Japan on Monday afternoon, collapsing buildings, causing fires, and triggering tsunami alerts as far away as eastern Russia. Orders were given for residents to evacuate affected coastal areas of Japan. The earthquake left six people dead in Ishikawa prefecture, and dozens have been injured in four other prefectures, including Toyama and Niigata, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The earthquake struck at 4:10 p.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) in the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa prefecture, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The Japan Meteorological Agency immediately issued a tsunami warning along coastal regions of western Japan, and the first waves were reported hitting the coast just over 10 minutes later. Some of the first reports came from the city of Wajima in Ishikawa prefecture, which saw tsunami waves of around 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) around 4:21 p.m., according to NHK. No immediate damage was reported. The tsunami warnings along portions of Japan’s western coast were later removed.