A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck early this morning off northern Japan, triggering a tsunami of up to 50cm in Pacific coast communities and warnings of potentially higher surges, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.
Several people were injured, media reports said.
Tsunami warnings after 7.6 magnitude quake hits Japan - watch on TVNZ+
The quake struck at about 11.15pm (local time) in the Pacific Ocean about 80km off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan's main Honshu island, the agency said.
A tsunami of 50cm was measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture, just south of Aomori, and tsunami levels of 40 to 50cm struck other coastal communities in the region, the agency said.
The agency issued an alert for potential tsunami surges of up to 3m in some areas, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara urged residents to immediately head to higher ground or take shelter inside buildings or evacuation centres until the alert is lifted.
Several people were injured at a hotel in the Aomori town of Hachinohe and a man in the town of Tohoku was slightly hurt when his car fell into a hole, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Kihara said nuclear power plants in the region were conducting safety checks and that so far no problems were detected.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in brief comment to reporters, said the government set up an emergency task force to urgently assess the extent of damage. "We are putting people’s lives first and doing everything we can," she said.
The quake struck about 80km northeast of Hachinohe, and about 50km below the sea surface, the meteorological agency said.
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