Japan orders evacuation after powerful quake hits west coast

A powerful earthquake struck central Japan's western coastline yesterday, triggering waves over a metre high, killing at least one person, destroying buildings and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

- Gavin Blair

The quake, which is estimated to have been magnitude 7.6 and the strongest to hit the region in more than four decades, struck the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture on the main central island of Honshu at about 4.10pm local time (0710 GMT).

In Wajima city, close to the epicentre, at least six people were reported to have been inside houses that collapsed. A large fire in the city engulfed a row of houses, with people being evacuated in the dark. Local hospitals reported a number of injured people arriving for treatment, though damaged roads were hampering the transport of patients. Buildings shook 190 miles away in Tokyo.