Tsunami alert issued following strong earthquakes off Japan's western coast

It issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu

Cracks are seen on the ground in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, following an earthquake. Japan issued tsunami alerts Monday after a series of strong quakes in the Sea of Japan. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan issued tsunami alerts and ordered evacuations on Monday following a series of earthquakes which started a fire and trapped people under rubble on the west coast of its main island.

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported more than a dozen quakes off the coast of Ishikawa and nearby prefectures shortly after 4pm, one of them with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6.