Updated on Jan 1, at 5.45 p.m.

The Indian Embassy in Japan today set up an emergency control room for its citizens and said that it is in touch with concerned authorities in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami warning.

In a post on X, it said: “Embassy has set up an emergency control room for anyone to contact in connection with the Earthquake and Tsunami on January 1, 2024…” 

In a picture attached with the post, the Indian Embassy shared emergency numbers:

+81-8039301715 (Yakub Topno)

+81-7014920049 (Ajay Sethi)

+81-8032144734 (DN Barnwal)

+81-8062295382 (S Bhattacharya)

+81-8032144722 (Vivek Rathee)

People seeking assistance can also contact the embassy on email addresses - sscons.tokyo@mea.gov.in and offfseco.tokyo@mea.gov.in.

The embassy further urged Indian citizens to follow instructions of the local government.

Updated on Jan 1, at 3.07 p.m.

Waves as high as 1.2 metres were observed after a series of strong quakes struck Japan’s western coast this afternoon (as per Indian Standard Time), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Earlier, the weather agency issued tsunami warnings for a broad swath of the country’s western coast, including Ishikawa, Fukui, Niigata, Toyama, Yamagata and other prefectures, following the earthquakes, as per reports.

Strong quakes with major ones measured at up to 7.6 magnitude have struck a wide area on the Sea of Japan coast in central Japan earlier in the day, the JMA said.

Public broadcaster NHK had warned that torrents of water could reach as high as 5 metres and people were urged to flee to high land or a top of a nearby building as quickly as possible.

A tsunami with about three metre-high waves was expected to hit Niigata and other prefectures on the western coast of Japan. Smaller tsunami waves were already confirmed to have reached the coastline, according to NHK.

The weather agency said the latest major temblor occurred at 4:10 p.m. local time (12.40 pm IST) at a shallow depth, registering a maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. It also shook buildings in central Tokyo.

The temblor’s epicentre was located in Ishikawa’s Noto region, at Wajima east-northeast 30 km, at 37.5° north latitude and 137.2° east longitude.

(Source: IANS)

- Edited for style

For more such updates and news on the go, follow us on Instagram | YouTube | Facebook