An earthquake tsunami warnings in Japan has been downgraded as people have urged to stay at hard grounds.
It’s now well into the night in Japan, where tsunami warnings remain in place after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the central region.
According to the BBC People have been told to flee to higher ground along hundreds of kilometres of the Sea of Japan coastline
Initial warnings had said the waves in some places could be up to 5m (16ft), but a “major tsunami warning” in the area around the quake’s epicentre has now been downgraded to a “tsunami warning” – meaning waves of up to 3m
Report says so far the highest recorded wave has been just over a metre
Around 50 earthquakes – ranging in magnitude from 3.4 to 7.6 – have hit central Japan in the past five hours
There have been six reported cases of people trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, a government spokesman has said, while a huge fire has broken out in the Ishikawa area following the earthquake
Japan’s Meteorological Agency says has warned of further earthquakes in the coming days while Motorways have been closed and bullet trains between Ishikawa prefecture and Tokyo have been suspended
No abnormalities have been reported at nuclear sites in the affected area, the country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority has said.
