TOKYO - Two people have suffered cardiac arrest in Nanao city of Japan's quake-hit central prefecture of Ishikawa, according to the National Police Agency.

The reports came after a series of strong earthquakes with major ones of up to a preliminary 7.6 magnitude hit a wide area on the Sea of Japan coast in central Japan starting Monday afternoon.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), among the quakes, the major temblor occurred at 4:10 pm 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. The JMA has officially named it the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.