CIEE Security Alert - Japan

A magnitude-7.5 earthquake occurred in Ishikawa Prefecture at around 4:10 pm on January 1st. The epicenter was about 42 km (26 miles) northeast of Anamizu. The tremor occurred at a depth of about 10 km (6 miles), and strong shaking probably occurred in areas near the epicenter, with moderate shaking likely across most of central Honshu. There have been no initial reports of casualties due to the earthquake. It could take several hours until authorities can conduct comprehensive damage assessments. Aftershocks are likely over the coming days; several aftershocks ranging between magnitude-6.2 and magnitude-3.9 followed the initial earthquake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued tsunami warnings across the northwestern coasts of Chubu and parts of southwestern Tohoku regions, including Fukui, Ishikawa, Niigata, Toyama, and Yamagata prefectures.

CIEE is currently messaging all participants to confirm the status of their safety. At this time, we have no reports that any CIEE Japan participants have been impacted by this incident.  As this is a developing situation, we will continue to monitor the situation closely and remain in contact with our participants to ensure their ongoing safety.