How to help Japan following 7.5 magnitude earthquake hits, with tsunami expected

Japan has been hit with a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the Ishikawa province on New Year's Day and has issued a further tsunami warning in the country's northern coastal areas.

Those living in the coastal regions of Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama prefectures have been urged to quickly evacuate with waves of up to 5 meters are expected to hit the shoreline within hours while some waves "may have reached" Noto already, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Meanwhile, one-metre waves have already hit Wajima city in Ishikawa, the latter of which has been placed under a major tsunami warning with lower-level warnings being issued on the island of Honshu.

There have been no confirmed reports of damage or fatalities as of yet but unconfirmed footage on social media does show some damage to houses and panicked residents taking shelter as the earthquake hits.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, urged local authorities to "take thorough measures to prevent damage, such as the evacuation of residents."

In 2011, one of the strongest earthquakes in Japan's history killed more than 15,000 people, left more than 450,000 people homeless and triggered the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

At times like this, it can often feel helpless as to what we can do to help victims of natural disasters such as this but there are ways of contributing to the relief effort.

If you do want to help numerous charities and organisations are already active which will allow you to help. A list of charities are available for you below:

Global Giving - Japan Earthquake Relief Fund: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthq...

Tohoku Disaster Relief: https://www.jnpoc.ne.jp/en/what-we-do/tohoku-disas...

Japanese Red Cross: https://www.jrc.or.jp/eq-japan2011/

The Nippon Foundation: https://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/en/what/projec...

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