Tsunami waves have reached Japan late Saturday through early Sunday, and the state's meteorological agency warned that waves could reach three meters. The natural disaster comes hours after a massive volcanic eruption near Tonga.

A video taken in Setouchi Town on Amami-Oshima Island shows many cars trying to get to higher ground. Inside are people evacuating from their homes.https://t.co/bZpiKm8wIN pic.twitter.com/6kdCFpAGC5

— NHK WORLD News (@NHKWORLD_News) January 15, 2022

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a 1.2 m tsunami reached the remote southern island of Amami Oshima at 11:55 PM Saturday local time before other areas along the Japanese Pacific coasts experience smaller tsunami waves.

【津波注意報 対象地域拡大】
4時07分に、長崎県西方、鹿児島県西部にも津波注意報が発表されました。https://t.co/FI075Sx1T6 pic.twitter.com/ivVitwHIww

— ウェザーニュース (@wni_jp) January 15, 2022

The eastern shores of Hokkaido island, Japan's northmost, and the southwestern regions of Kochi and Wakayama also experience small tsunamis that did not exceed 0.9 m in height shortly after midnight, according to the agency.

National Japanese TV channel NHK aired live footage from the ports of the affected regions, and it called on the residents of the area to evacuate to higher ground. However, the footage showed no clear signs of abnormality, despite the warnings.

Japan issued Tsunami warning on all east coast. pic.twitter.com/o1dwAroJux

— tkasasagi 🐻 (@tkasasagi) January 15, 2022

A weather agency official told a news conference they had detected a tidal change higher than a meter after 11 PM.

Not immediately classifying the event as a tsunami, the agency activated the public tsunami warning systems to urge residents of Amami to evacuate the city.

"We don't know at this point whether this is a tsunami, but a strong tidal change has been observed, so we're urging residents to respond," the official told the press conference.