TOKYO, January 2 The number of victims of a series of powerful earthquakes in Japan in Ishikawa Prefecture on Monday increased to eight, NHK reported, citing doctors.
Dozens of people were injured. In the city of Wajima, more than 50 buildings collapsed, and more than 100 more structures were partially or completely burned out as a result of a large fire that broke out after the natural disaster.
As Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a meeting of the operational headquarters for eliminating the consequences of the earthquake, units of the self-defense forces have already been sent to the affected region. He also noted the importance of prompt delivery of necessary supplies, such as drinking water, food, blankets and heaters.
«Currently we are fighting against time. Those under the collapsed buildings must be rescued as soon as possible,» he noted.
Several earthquakes occurred in western Japan on Monday. They were given the name «Earthquake on the Noto Peninsula». The first tremors with a magnitude of 5.7 were recorded at 16:06 local time (10:06 Moscow time), the most powerful, with a magnitude of 7.6, occurred four minutes later, and another eight minutes later was followed by an earthquake of magnitude 6.1. A total of 29 earthquakes were recorded in Ishikawa and Niigata prefectures in two hours. Strong tremors were felt in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.
According to the Japan Main Meteorological Agency, this earthquake was the strongest to hit the Noto Peninsula region since 1885.
The entire western coast of the country from Hokkaido to Kyushu was declared a threat tsunami. In the area of the world's largest nuclear power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the wave height was 40 centimeters. The government and the Atomic Energy Committee have created a headquarters to prevent accidents at nuclear power plants. No failures have been recorded yet. On Tuesday morning, the tsunami warning was lifted.
It was also canceled in the Russian Far East — previously it was announced in Sakhalin, Vladivostok, Nakhodka, and Khabarovsk Territory. There was no need to evacuate the population; the maximum wave height in Primorye was 30 centimeters.