A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s northeastern coast on Monday, triggering evacuation orders and a tsunami warning for parts of the coastline.
The latest news released by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) early on Tuesday local time said that some parts of the country experienced a tsunami. A tsunami with a height of 2.3 feet (0.7 meters) was observed at Kuji Port in Iwate Prefecture. JMA said earlier that tsunami heights of 16 inches (40 centimeters) were recorded in Aomori Prefecture and Hokkaido.
A few hours later, the Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded the warning level to a tsunami warning. The agency also downgraded the quake’s magnitude from an initially reported magnitude of 7.6.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck at 11:15 p.m. local time (9:15 a.m. ET) about 44 miles (70 kilometers) off the country’s coast and at a depth of about 33 miles.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a news conference earlier Tuesday that Aomori Prefecture had received reports of multiple casualties and fires. Power outages have been reported in Aomori and Iwate prefectures, and high-speed train services between Fukushima and Aomori have been suspended, he said. Some sections of the highway were also closed, Kihara said.
Senior disaster prevention official Tsuji Morikubo told reporters that “a large-scale earthquake of magnitude 8 or above is possible as a follow-up earthquake” on Japan’s northeastern coast, public broadcaster NHK reported. He urged people to take precautions.
The CNN team in Tokyo, the Japanese capital, felt strong shaking during the earthquake, which lasted for more than 30 seconds.
Earlier, Kihara urged people in affected areas to evacuate to higher ground or move to safe buildings such as shelters.
Kihara said there have been no reports of “abnormalities” at the country’s Totsu nuclear power plant and Onagawa nuclear power plant. “We have received reports that other nuclear facilities are currently undergoing inspections,” he added.
Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who was elected in October, said the Japanese government would work closely with local officials to assess damage and formulate emergency measures.
She said the government would “act on the principle that human life comes first”.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi spoke to the media about the reaction to the 7.5-magnitude earthquake that shook the Tohoku region of Japan on December 8, 2025. -Kyodo/Reuters
Japan is no stranger to powerful earthquakes. It is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of ​​intense seismic and volcanic activity on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The most serious earthquake in Japan’s modern history was the 9.1-magnitude earthquake in the Tohoku region in 2011, which triggered a severe tsunami and nuclear disaster.
That earthquake and tsunami left more than 22,000 people dead or missing and caused reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to melt, releasing radioactive contaminants into the surrounding area.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Brandon Miller, Lauren Kent and Mitchell McCluskey contributed to this report.
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