As Japan was recently struck by at least 155 earthquakes on New Year's Day that have killed at least 48 people so far, footage and videos posted on social media have captured when a tremor of magnitude 7.6 first struck the country. One such video shows a metro platform in Japan, which was seen shaking violently during the quake.
The viral video shows the display boards and the platform trembling violently as the earthquake made impact, almost to the point of collapse. Then the platform suddenly went dark, causing panic among the commuters. Other videos show collapsed buildings, firefighters and army personnel trying to tackle the situation and people fleeing for their lives.
Many rail services, ferries and flights into the area have been suspended. Noto airport has closed due to damage to its runway, terminal and access roads, with 500 people stranded inside cars in its parking lot. Almost 33,000 households remained without power in Ishikawa prefecture on Tuesday morning, according to Hokuriku Electric Power's (9505.T) website.
The earthquake with a 7.6-preliminary magnitude destroyed several buildings, caused fires and knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes, prompting residents in some coastal areas to flee to higher ground. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) initially issued a major tsunami warning - its first since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeast Japan killing nearly 20,000 people - for Ishikawa prefecture.
Rescue efforts ongoing
At least 48 people were confirmed killed so far after a series of earthquakes rocked Japan on Monday. The Japanese government said that as of Monday night, it had ordered around 100,000 people in nine prefectures on the western coast of Japan's main island Honshu to evacuate. They were set to spend the night in sports halls and school gymnasiums, commonly used as evacuation centres in emergencies.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that he had instructed search and rescue teams to do everything possible to save lives, even as access to quake-hit areas remained difficult. "The search and rescue of those impacted by the quake is a battle against time," he said during an emergency disaster meeting on Tuesday.
Additionally, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority said that no irregularities were found at nuclear plants along the Sea of Japan, including five active reactors at Kansai Electric Power’s (9503.T) Ohi and Takahama plants in Fukui Prefecture. The authority has faced fierce opposition since the 2011 earthquake caused nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima.
A 3,000-strong rescue crew of army personnel, firefighters and police officers from across the country have been dispatched to the quake sites on the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture. Kishida said that rescuers were finding it very difficult to access the northern tip of the Noto peninsula where helicopter surveys had discovered many fires and widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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