Was there an attempt to conceal the creation of an artificial earthquake in the Noto Peninsula by deleting news articles that reported three mysterious "bomb" noises? No, that's not true: The Hokuriku Electric Power Company has verified there were no explosions. It attributed the power outage and loud noises to a fallen tree.
The claim appeared on TikTok (archived here) on January 1, 2024. Other variations of the claim (archived here and here) have emerged on TikTok, all following a similar trend that shows individuals searching for the keywords "Noto Peninsula" and "explosion," only to click on articles that have been removed. The text in the video, translated from Japanese to English by Lead Stories Staff, reads:
Yesterday, there was an explosion at Ishikawa Prefecture Noto City. Three mysterious explosions have been heard. They are creating an artificial earthquake. It's the same as 3.11, they're making nuclear reactors explode again.
The majority of news articles featured on TikTok carried the headline: "Three Loud Explosions: Trouble at the power station/160 households out of power in Ishikawa, Noto City." However, the video shows that upon clicking on each article from the search query, the page displays a "not found" message instead of the article.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Jan 11 11:40:00 2024 UTC)
Posts on the subject on X, formerly known as Twitter, (archived here, here, and here) have fueled the assertion that deleted articles about the mysterious explosion, are an attempt to cover up an artificial earthquake.
While a loud explosion did occur in Noto City, the Hokuriku Electric Power Company's official website (archived here) clarified its origin. As the primary electricity provider for Ishikawa, Fukui, and Toyama prefectures, the company said the noise on December 31 resulted from a tree falling and disrupting power lines. In an interview with the Japan Fact Check Center (archived here), representatives from the Hokuriku Electric Power Company elaborated that the incidents in two Noto City locations, Wajima and Ushitsu around 2 PM JST and 11 PM JST, respectively, were specifically caused by contact with fallen trees. This information is presented in the screenshot below, extracted from the power outage archives of the Hokuriku Electric Power Company (archived here). It underscores there were no issues with the power station, and no explosions took place. The image provides a breakdown of power outages in the Noto area, specifically at Ushitsu, documented at 2:12 PM JST. Notably, the primary cause mentioned in the bottom column of the image is a "fallen tree," aligning with the Hokuriku Electric Power Company's statement during their interview with the Japan Fact Check Center. 
(Source: Screenshot from Chiebukuro Matome (archived here) Fri Jan 12 10:52:35 UTC)
The explosion-like sound is attributed to falling trees.
