Tokyo [Japan], July 30 (ANI): Japan on Wednesday issued a tsunami warning for the country’s Pacific coast following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Waves of up to 50 centimeters were recorded in parts of northern and eastern Japan, Kyodo News reported.
The warning disrupted railway and air services along the coast and prompted the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to halt the release of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, according to Kyodo News.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that tsunami waves up to 3 meters could reach areas stretching from Hokkaido in northern Japan to Wakayama Prefecture in the west and the Ogasawara Islands in the south. The agency stated that the warning could remain in effect throughout the day.
A 50 cm tsunami was recorded at Ishinomaki Port in Miyagi Prefecture at 11:51 a.m. (local time), while a 40 cm wave was observed in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture, at 11:38 a.m. Tsunami waves of up to 30 cm were also reported in Nemuro and Kushiro in eastern Hokkaido, as well as in Ofunato and Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged to take all possible measures to ensure public safety, directing ministries and agencies to act swiftly to mitigate any damage. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, in a hastily arranged press conference, said the government was monitoring the situation and urged people in affected areas to evacuate to higher ground.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck at 8:24 a.m. around 120 kilometers east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of approximately 20 km. Tsunami waves measuring up to 4 meters were detected off southeastern Kamchatka, where several people were reportedly injured, as per Russia’s Tass news agency.
The quake registered a level 2 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale of 7 in Hokkaido, according to the Japanese weather agency.
The tsunami warning led Sendai Airport in Miyagi Prefecture to close its runways. East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) also suspended train services near coastal areas, Kyodo News reported.
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