A strong earthquake hit central Japan, early Monday to be one the earliest major headlines for 2024. The earthquake caused the destruction of a lot of buildings, in addition to power cuts of thousands of homes, and the evacuation of thousands of the coastal areas after threats over tsunami.
The quake was 7.6 magnitude and it triggered waves of about 1 metre along Japan's west coast and South Korea.
After the earthquake, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued tsunami warnings for Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama.
The latest warnings are the biggest since Ishikawa's 2011.
Russia and North Korea also issued tsunami warnings for some areas after the earthquake.
After the earthquake and the tsunami warnings, various army personnel were dispatched to conduct rescue operations, according to Government Spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi.
More strong earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned residents to be ready for more crises.
Kishida said: "I urge people in areas where tsunamis are expected to evacuate as soon as possible."
The crisis disturbed the activity of forty train lines and two high-speed rail services to the hit areas. Six expressways were halted and one of Ishikawa's airports was closed.
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