M7.6 earthquake strikes northeastern Japan, tsunami warning issued
A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck northeastern Japan late Monday night, with the meteorological agency issuing a tsunami warning for coastal areas of Hokkaido as well as Aomori and Iwate prefectures, Kyodo News reports.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of tsunami up to 3 meters following the earthquake.
The quake, which occurred at 11:15 p.m. off Aomori at a depth of 50 kilometers, was initially reported as magnitude 7.2 before being upgraded.
Tsunami of 40 centimeters were recorded in Aomori and Hokkaido, and up to 50 cm in Iwate. Authorities cautioned that higher waves may still reach northeastern coastlines.
The earthquake registered an upper 6 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale of 7 in parts of Aomori and was felt as far away as central Tokyo.
No abnormalities were reported at nuclear plants in Hokkaido or in the prefectures of Aomori, Miyagi, and Fukushima.
Due to the quake, Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train operations were suspended between Fukushima and Shin-Aomori, operator JR East confirmed.
As previously reported, a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the U.S. state of Alaska.
