A series of significant earthquakes have rattled central Japan on New Year’s Day, leaving several people dead, others trapped in destroyed structures, and many thousands without power. Japan’s Meteorological Agency reported more than a dozen quakes in the Japan Sea off the coast of Ishikawa and nearby prefectures on New Year’s Day, the largest of which had a magnitude of 7.6. The quakes collapsed buildings and triggered fires on the west coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu. JMA says more major quakes could hit the area over the next week, especially in the next two or three days. The Japanese government is providing information as it is received following the earthquakes, and would continue to share information as soon as it was available.
At least 13 people have been confirmed dead, and eight reports come from the city of Wajima, Ishikawa, near the epicenter of the quake. Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said search and rescue teams were having difficulty reaching the region due to blockage of roads and other destruction. Initial tsunami warnings were issued for Niigata and Toyama prefectures and especially for Ishikawa, but the warnings were later relaxed and removed by Tuesday morning. The area has disrupted utilities, with more than 35,000 households losing power, and the true extent of the damage is yet to be assessed. Japan has dealt with severe earthquakes in the past, and in 2011, it experienced its worst incident with earthquakes and distant tsunami warnings from surrounding countries occur today.
The United States has extended its support and is in contact with the Japanese Government to offer assistance to the people of Japan. All of the world has seen the damage that can be done by an earthquake, and their thoughts are with the Japanese. To date, the largest earthquake was a magnitude 9.5, and no fault line long enough had been found to generate an earthquake ten or above.