Japan counts the cost as quake rocks west coast

A powerful earthquake struck central Japan on Monday, destroying buildings, cracking open streets and sending tsunami waves over a metre (three feet) high crashing into some parts of the coast as the country was jolted into the new year with a 7.6-magnitude temblor followed by at least 27 aftershocks.

The most intense one, which struck at 4.21 pm local time, was followed by an immediate tsunami warning with US and Japanese agencies predicting waves as high as five metres (roughly the height of a single-story building).

Waves of around 1 metre were recorded along parts of the Sea of Japan coast in Noto, with CHINA RU N.KOREA S.KOREA 7.6 m ear Osaka Kagoshima authorities saying larger waves could follow in the same PA area. The Japan Meteorological Agency reported more than a dozen quakes in the Japan Sea off the coast of Ishikawa and nearby prefectures shortly after 4 pm.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued tsunami warnings for the coastal prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama. A major tsunami warning the first since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan initially was issued for Ishikawa but later downgraded.

The extent of any injuries and deaths was unclear. Two people recovered from quake debris in Ishikawa prefecture were unresponsive, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Russia also issued tsunami warnings in its far eastern cities of Vladivostok and Nakhodka.

Prior to the main shock of 7.6 magnitude, there was one earthquake of 5.5 magnitude in roughly the same area, around 42km northeast of the town of Anamizu, the USGS reported.

Several houses have been destroyed and army units have been dispatched to help with rescue operations, news agency Reuters quoted government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi as saying. Hayashi added that authorities were still assessing the extent of the damage.