Tokyo, Jan 1 (IANS): Waves as high as 1.2 meters were observed after a series of strong quakes struck Japan's western coast on Monday afternoon, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Earlier, the weather agency issued tsunami warnings for a broad swath of the country's western coast, including Ishikawa, Fukui, Niigata, Toyama, Yamagata and other prefectures, following the earthquakes, Xinhua news agency reported.

Strong quakes with major ones measured at up to 7.6 magnitude have struck a wide area on the Sea of Japan coast in central Japan earlier in the day, the JMA said.

Public broadcaster NHK had warned that torrents of water could reach as high as 5 meters and people were urged to flee to high land or a top of a nearby building as quickly as possible.

A tsunami with about 3-meter high waves was expected to hit Niigata and other prefectures on the western coast of Japan. Smaller tsunami waves were already confirmed to have reached the coastline, according to NHK.

The weather agency said the latest major temblor occurred at 4:10 p.m. local time (0710 GMT) at a shallow depth, registering a maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. It also shook buildings in central Tokyo.

The temblor's epicenter was located in Ishikawa's Noto region, at Wajima east-northeast 30 km, at 37.5 degrees north latitude and 137.2 degrees east longitude.