Japan earthquake LIVE Updates: More quakes likely to follow this week; Tsunami warning lowered

 Japan earthquake LIVE news: A major earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 hit north-central Japan on Monday afternoon. Soon after, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning along the coastal regions of Ishikawa, Niigata, and Toyama prefectures.

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported a quake hitting Ishikawa and nearby prefectures, one of them measuring a preliminary magnitude of 7.4. Waves more than 1 metre high hit the coast of Wajima City in Ishikawa Prefecture, NHK reported.

NHK TV also warned torrents of water could reach as high as 5 metres (16.5 feet) and urged people to flee to high land or the top of a nearby building as quickly as possible. Reports of any loss were not immediately available.

Japan is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake off northeastern Japan in March 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing. In March 2022, a 7.4-magnitude quake off the coast of Fukushima shook large areas of eastern Japan, killing three people. The capital Tokyo was devastated by a huge earthquake a century ago in 1923.

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Highest-level tsunami warning dropped but residents in coastal areas told not to return to homes

Japan dropped its highest-level tsunami alert, issued following a series of major earthquakes on Monday, but told residents of coastal areas not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come.

The quakes, the largest of which had a magnitude of 7.6, started a fire and collapsed buildings on the west coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu. It was unclear how many people might have been killed or hurt, the Associated Press reported.

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported more than a dozen quakes in the Japan Sea off the coast of Ishikawa and nearby prefectures shortly after 4pm.

At least six homes were damaged by the quakes, with people trapped inside, government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said. A fire broke out in Wajima city, Ishikawa prefecture, and electricity was out for more than 30,000 households, he said.

The agency initially issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of the island of Honshu, as well as the northernmost of its main islands, Hokkaido.

The warning was downgraded to a regular tsunami several hours later, meaning the waters could still reach up to 3 metres (10ft). Aftershocks could also hit the same area over the next few days, it said.