A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan on Monday, prompting a tsunami warning of up to ten feet (three meters), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The quake triggered strong shaking across large parts of northern and eastern Japan, British news agency Reuters reported.
JMA said the earthquake’s epicenter was located about 80 kilometers off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, at a depth of 50 kilometers. Authorities issued tsunami warnings for Hokkaido, Aomori, and Iwate prefectures shortly after the quake.
No immediate reports of casualties or major damage were available.
On Japan’s seismic intensity scale of 1 to 7, the quake registered an “Upper 6” level in parts of Aomori Prefecture — a level at which standing or walking becomes nearly impossible without crawling. Such powerful tremors can topple heavy furniture and damage building walls, tiles, and window glass.
Electricity providers Tohoku Electric Power and Hokkaido Electric Power reported no abnormalities at nuclear power plants in the region. However, Tohoku Electric confirmed that thousands of customers were left without power.
East Japan Railway suspended several train services in the affected areas as a precaution.
Japan is among the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, experiencing at least one tremor every five minutes on average. The same region was devastated in March 2011 by a catastrophic 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.
Japan lies in the seismically volatile Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or higher occur.
