Watch: Dramatic Footage Emerges as First Tsunami Waves Hit Japan After Massive Earthquake

The first tsunami waves hit Japan after a massive earthquake struck the island country on Monday. Japan issued tsunami alerts after a series of strong quakes, according to the country’s meteorological agency.

Quakes were reported off the coast of Ishikawa and nearby prefectures shortly after 4 pm (local time), one of them with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6.

The Japanese agency issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of the island of Honshu. Japanese media warned torrents of water could reach as high as 5 meters and urged people to flee to high land as quickly as possible.

The tsunami waves could keep returning, and warnings were continuing to be aired nearly an hour after the initial alert, NHK TV reported. The government was set to hold a news conference later in the day. Reports of damage were not immediately available.

A tsunami of about 3 meters high was expected to hit Niigata and other prefectures on the western coast of Japan. Japanese media reports said smaller tsunami waves were already confirmed to have reached the coastline.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator, said it was checking for problems but there were no immediate reports of any irregularities. Japan is an extremely quake-prone nation. In March 2011, a major quake and tsunami caused meltdowns at a nuclear plant.

(With agency inputs)