The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning April 20, 2026, after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit at 4:53 p.m. off northeastern Japan. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
Japanese authorities downgraded a tsunami warning Monday afternoon after a powerful earthquake struck off the country’s northeastern coast.
All warnings have been reduced to advisories, according to reports.
The magnitude 7.5 temblor hit at 4:53 p.m. off Sanriku, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The agency had warned of possible tsunami waves of up to 9 feet in Iwate and Aomori prefectures, near the epicenter, with impacts expected along a wide stretch of coastline from Hokkaido to Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures.
Misawa Air Base, a joint U.S. Air Force and Japan Air Self-Defense installation, is near the coast of Aomori prefecture.
Officials urged residents in affected coastal areas to move to higher ground as a precaution.
One 2½-foot tsunami struck Kuji Port in Iwate prefecture, and the water was still rising at 6 p.m., according to public broadcaster NHK. Smaller waves were observed up and down the coast.
Shinkansen bullet trains and local railway service was suspended in the region because of the earthquake, NHK reported.
The quake struck in a region prone to seismic activity. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit the same area on March 3, according to agency records.
A magnitude 9.1 quake and accompanying massive tsunami struck Fukushima prefecture on March 11, 2011, resulting in nearly 20,000 deaths, wiping out communities and causing a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
