Major earthquakes, tsunami waves leave parts of Japan without power

Around 33,500 households were without power around the epicentre of a series of major earthquakes in central Japan on Monday, local utilities said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said that a total of 21 quakes above 4.0 magnitude hit the country.

One of these was a major 7.5 earthquake that triggered a series of tsunami warnings.

The first tsunami waves, some more than a metre high, arrived on the north coast of central Japan after the series of earthquakes. Waves as high as 1.2 metres hit Wajima port in Ishikawa prefecture at 4.21pm local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The areas affected were the Toyama, Ishikawa and Niigata prefectures on the Sea of Japan side of Japan's main island of Honshu.

Several major highways were closed on Monday around the epicentre of the earthquakes. Shinkansen bullet train services were also suspended between Tokyo and the epicentre in the Noto region in Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan side of Japan's main island of Honshu, Japan Railways said.

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