A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 struck northeastern Japan late Monday, December 8, triggering tsunami warnings and evacuation orders.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), an earthquake occurred at 11:15pm local time (1415 GMT), about 50 miles (80km) offshore and originated at a depth of roughly 33 miles below the surface.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned that a tsunami up to three meters (10 feet) high could hit the northeastern coast.
On Japan's 1-7 earthquake intensity scale, the tremor in Aomori prefecture was rated "upper 6" which is extremely strong.
At this level, it is nearly impossible to stand or move without crawling, heavy furniture could fall and many buildings may suffer damage to wall tiles and windowpanes.
Several people were injured at a hotel in the Aomori town of Hachinohe, according to Al-Jazeera.
Some train services in eastern Japan were temporarily stopped as a precaution.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that nuclear power plants in the areas affected were conducting safety inspections and so far, there no immediate issues detected.
Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, located in the seismically active “Ring of Fire”.
Around 20% of the world's strongest earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or higher occurred in Japan.
