🇯🇵📈❗️— On today, January 1, 2024 AD (6th Year of 🇯🇵 Reiwa era), a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck western Japan on the afternoon of this Monday, triggering a tsunami warning and an official warning to residents to evacuate affected coastal areas as quickly as possible, the biggest warning since 2011 Tsunami.

The earthquake occurred at 4:10 pm. local time, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), about 42 kilometers (26 miles) northeast of Anamizu in Ishikawa Prefecture, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The Japan Meteorological Agency immediately issued a tsunami warning along the coastal regions of western Japan, and the first waves were reported reaching the coast just over 10 minutes later.

Some of the first reports came from the city of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture, which saw tsunami waves of about 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) at around 4:21 p.m., according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

A major tsunami warning was still in effect in the city of Noto in Ishikawa Prefecture, with waves of around 5 meters expected, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Russia has declared a tsunami threat for parts of the west coast of Sakhalin and is urging residents to evacuate to higher ground following the massive earthquake in Japan.