Tsunami alerts trigger evacuations across Japan after powerful pacific quake

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New Delhi: A massive-scale tsunami scare was witnessed in Japan when an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 hit Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on the North Pacific, prompting tsunami warnings and advisories across large areas of the country.

This earthquake is regarded as one of the largest recorded globally recently and triggered an immediate reaction from authorities to alert their emergency response systems for coastal areas.

The tsunami warnings were issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency in areas of the coast ranging from Hokkaido to portions of Honshu, with advisories issued in various parts as well.

Residents of the prone coastal regions were advised to evacuate their place to the high grounds by the officials as a precautionary step.

Over 900,000 individuals from a number of municipalities were asked to vacate low-lying areas.

Subsequently, tsunami waves were recorded at Japan’s Pacific coast; however were of a minute measure in comparison to the catastrophic tsunami witnessed in the 2011 Tohoku disaster.

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Transportation was disrupted, and ferry services were suspended; a few airports also suspended their services temporarily while they kept vigil on the changing situation.

Nuclear sites, including Fukushima Daiichi, also reported no abnormality while putting forth precautionary safety measures.

The alerts also triggered the memory of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which caused the death of many people in one of the deadliest natural disasters in the history of Japan.

The emergency drills and upgrades that were made over the past decade proved helpful for officials, and warnings to the residents reached within a span of minutes, and so also the evacuation orders were given in less than half an hour.

According to expert sources, Japan’s state-of-the-art tsunami warning system played a vital role in the protection of the public.

When the tsunami warning advisories were slowly withdrawn, authorities reminded citizens to stay away from the sea as it would consist of strong currents, and earthquakes could also occur. This episode once again proved Japan’s seismic proneness and also highlighted the crucial need for preparedness in this region, which is highly vulnerable.

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