Waves could reach three meters. In Japan, after a violent earthquake of magnitude 7.4 in the north of the country, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a tsunami alert on Monday. The first waves could immediately reach the northern coast, she said, warning that damage was expected.
“Immediately evacuate coastal and waterfront areas to a safer location, such as higher ground or an evacuation building. Tsunami waves are expected to strike several times. Do not leave safe places until the alert is lifted,” she said, with broadcaster NHK immediately interrupting its programs.
Violent shaking
The earthquake occurred at 4:53 p.m. local time, or 8:53 a.m. French time, in Pacific waters, off the coast of northern Iwate prefecture. The tremors were so violent that they shook tall buildings as far away as Tokyo, several hundred kilometers away.
A tsunami wave of 80 centimeters was observed at 5:34 p.m. local time at a port in Kuji, located in Iwate prefecture, two minutes after an initial wave of 70 cm and forty-one minutes after the earthquake, the JMA said. Images from NHK did not show immediately visible damage around several Iwate ports. The office of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said it had set up a crisis management unit.
Trauma
The country is still traumatized by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake of March 2011, which triggered a tsunami, causing some 18,500 deaths or disappearances. This earthquake was triggered on the Pacific coast, along the Nankai Trench. An 800 kilometer underwater trench where the oceanic plate of the Philippine Sea slowly “sinks” beneath the continental plate on which Japan rests.
The government estimates that an earthquake in the Nankai Trough, followed by a tsunami, could kill up to 298,000 people and cause up to $2 trillion in damage. Japan is among the most seismically active countries in the world. The archipelago, which has around 125 million inhabitants, experiences some 1,500 tremors each year, mainly light, although the damage varies depending on their location and depth below the earth’s surface.
The previous year, on January 1, 2024, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake, which was then the strongest felt in the country for more than ten years, struck the Noto peninsula (center) and caused the death of nearly 470 people.
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