On 1 January 2024, at 16:10 JST, a MJMA7.6 earthquake struck 6 km (3.7 mi) north-northeast of Suzu, located on the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The reverse-faulting shock achieved a maximum JMA seismic intensity of Shindo 7 and Modified Mercalli intensity of X–XI (Extreme). The shaking and accompanying tsunami caused widespread destruction on the Noto Peninsula, particularly in the towns of Suzu, Wajima, Noto and Anamizu, with the neighbouring prefectures of Toyama and Niigata also recording significant damage. As of 23 April 2024, there were 245 deaths confirmed and three people remaining missing, all of them in Ishikawa, with over 1,300 others injured across six prefectures, making it the deadliest earthquake in Japan since the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. As of 20 February, 12,929 people remained in 521 evacuation centers.

Wajima is a city located in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 January 2018, the city had an estimated population of 27,698 in 12768 households, and a population density of 65 persons per km². The total area of the city was 426.32 square kilometres (164.60 sq mi).