A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate.
A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.
Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said.
Photo: AP
The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of Aomori prefecture, at a depth of 50 km (30 miles), the agency added.
Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes.
East Japan Railway suspended some train services in the area, which was also hit by the massive 9.0-magnitude quake in March 2011.
Located in the “Ring of Fire” arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin, the country accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or greater.
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