Thousands in shelters overnight after Japan tsunami warnings

 

Following a major earthquake, thousands of people in Japan are spending the night in evacuation centers.

 

According to the Kyodo news agency, at least two individuals are presumed dead, with the death toll expected to grow in the coming days.

 

Numerous buildings in numerous towns have collapsed, trapping an unknown number of people beneath the wreckage.

 

The 7.6-magnitude quake struck on Monday about 16:10 local time (07:10 GMT). Tsunami warnings were issued before being downgraded.

 

Following the original quake, approximately 60 tremors were registered.

 

A skier on vacation in Japan's Hakuba Alps said that his entire hotel room shook. Baldwin Chia, speaking to Reuters, said he was concerned about avalanches but had not heard reports of any.

 

He said it was common to hear about earthquakes in Japan, but "you wouldn't expect to actually experience one".

 

Andy Clark, a Briton in Japan, described to the BBC a "scary afternoon and evening", as he was in the affected coastal city of Toyama when the quake hit.

 

He said he "grabbed the sea wall to stay upright" before heading to a school roof for safety. Mr Clark said it was proving "hard to get some sleep" due to the aftershocks.

 

Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Kanda University, said he felt tremors for about two minutes despite being in Yokohama, on the other side of Japan's main island. He told the BBC the quake was "very, very serious".

 

Four bullet trains that came to a halt between the cities of Toyama and Kanazawa in Japan's Ishikawa prefecture during Monday's powerful earthquake remained at a standstill on Tuesday local time.

 

Japan's public broadcaster NHK, citing Japan Railways West, reported that nearly 1,400 passengers continued to be stranded inside the immobile high-speed trains more than 10 hours since the powerful tremor shook the region.

 

Because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where multiple tectonic plates collide, Japan is one of the most seismically active countries on the planet. Because of the persistent threat of earthquakes, Japan has developed one of the most effective tsunami warning systems in the world.

 

Several nuclear power stations are located in the impacted areas, however Japan's nuclear authorities stated that there is "no risk of radioactivity leaking" from the facilities.

 

Following the earthquake, South Korea's meteorological office and Russia both issued tsunami warnings.

 

The tsunami caused by Japan's 9.0-magnitude earthquake in 2011 ripped over the country's north-eastern coastal regions, killing around 18,000 people and displacing tens of thousands.

 

Those tsunami waves triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant, causing the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl.