On Monday, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit Japan near the Noto Peninsula in the Ishikawa prefecture, prompting tsunami warnings for the nine prefectures along the west coast of the country and neighbouring areas such as South Korea. More quakes are expected to come this week.
Japan is particularly prone to earthquakes because four of the earth’s tectonic plates meet in the country. Japan experienced a devastating quake in 2011 with a death toll of nearly 20,000 people, with most killed by tsunami waves, and also caused nuclear plant meltdowns in Fukushima. The disaster is believed to have caused $220bn worth of damage.
