‌

An ​earthquake ⁠with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 struck off ‌the north-eastern coast of Japan ‌on Monday ‌(April 20, 2026) afternoon, ⁠the Japan ⁠Meteorological Agency said.

It warned of a tsunami ​as high ‌as 3 metres (9.84 ft) in Iwate, Aomori, and Hokkaido ‌prefectures. The tremor ​had an epicentre in the ⁠Pacific Ocean and was 10km ‌deep, according to the JMA.

Japan was assessing damages on Tuesday (December 9, 2025) and cautioning people of potential aftershocks after a late-night 7.5 magnitude earthquake caused injuries, light damage and a tsunami in Pacific coastal communities.

At least 33 people were injured, one seriously, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Most of them were hit by falling objects, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters an emergency task force was formed to urgently assess damage. “We are putting people’s lives first and doing everything we can,” she said.

At a parliamentary session on Tuesday (December 9, 2025), Ms. Takaichi pledged the government would continue its utmost effort and reminded people they have to protect their own lives.

The 7.5 magnitude quake struck around 11:15 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean, around 80 kilometers off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan’s main Honshu island. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at 7.6 magnitude and said it occurred 44 kilometers below the surface.

A tsunami of up to 70 centimeters (2 feet, 4 inches) was measured in Kuji port in Iwate Prefecture, just south of Aomori, and waves up to 50 centimeters struck other communities in the region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. NHK reported the waves damaged some oyster rafts.

The agency lifted all tsunami advisories by 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday (December 9, 2025).

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said about 800 homes were without electricity and Shinkansen bullet trains and some local lines were suspended in parts of the region in the early hours of Tuesday (December 9, 2025). East Japan Railway said it is aiming to resume bullet trains in the region later on Tuesday (December 9, 2025).

Power was mostly restored by Tuesday (December 9, 2025) morning, according to the Tohoku Electric Power Co.

About 480 residents sheltered at Hachinohe Air Base and 18 defence helicopters were mobilised for a damage assessment, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.

About 200 passengers were stranded for the night at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, NHK reported. Part of a domestic terminal building was unusable on Tuesday (December 9, 2025) after parts of its ceiling cracked and fell to the floor, according to the airport operator.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said about 450 litres (118 gallons) of water were spilt from a spent fuel cooling area at the Rokkasho fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori, but that its water level remained within the normal range and there was no safety concern. No abnormalities were found at other nuclear power plants and spent fuel storage facilities, the NRA said.

JMA cautioned about possible aftershocks in the coming days. It said there is a slight increase in risk of a magnitude 8-level quake and possible tsunami occurring along Japan’s northeastern coast from Chiba, just east of Tokyo, to Hokkaido. The agency urged residents in 182 municipalities in the area to monitor their emergency preparedness in the coming week, reminding them that the caution is not a prediction of a big one.

Monday’s (December 8, 2025) quake occurred just north of the coastal region where the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011 killed nearly 20,000 people and destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

“You need to prepare, assuming that a disaster like that could happen again,” JMA official Satoshi Harada said.

Smaller aftershocks were continuing Tuesday. The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 6.6 and later a 5.1 quake in the hours after the initial temblor.

Tiny tsunami waves hit Japan’s northern Pacific coast on Sunday (November 9, 2025) after an offshore earthquake, the national weather service said.

The first tsunami hit the northern city of Miyako at 5.37 p.m. but it was so small that the Japan Meteorological Agency said it could not measure its size.

Later, ports in Kuji and Ofunato, located in the same region, saw waves as high as 20cm while smaller waves reached other ports in Iwate, the meteorological agency said.

The quake struck around 5.03 p.m. in waters off Iwate, according to the Japanese agency which initially estimated its strength at magnitude 6.7 but later revised it to 6.9.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake as magnitude 6.8.

The Japan Meteorological Agency had issued an advisory for a possible tsunami before lifting it shortly after 8 p.m.

The original quake was followed aftershocks at magnitude between 4.6 and 6.3, the agency said.

Six other offshore quakes hit the same region earlier on Sunday (November 9, 2025), but were barely felt on land and did not prompt tsunami advisories.

The area may see stronger quakes particularly in the next several days, warned Masashi Kiyomoto, an earthquake and tsunami official at the meteorological agency.

“This is an area that has seen a series of seismic activities. It is possible that larger earthquakes will occur,” he told a televised briefing.

The region is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing.

That tsunami also sent three reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing Japan’s worst post-war disaster and the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Japan sits on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is one of the world’s most tectonically active countries.

The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 jolts every year.

The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and depth below the Earth’s surface.