Japan tsunami alert issued following powerful earthquake off northern coast – follow latest

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There is no tsunami threat to Australia, according to a notice issued by the country’s Bureau of Meteorology.

Posted this morning, the bureau said:

An undersea earthquake of magnitude 7.5 has occurred at 5:52 PM AEST on Monday

20 April 2026 near OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN.

THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO THE AUSTRALIAN MAINLAND, ISLANDS OR TERRITORIES.

It added that it would not provide any further updates unless the situation changes.

Tsunami waves observed in several areas

Authorities in Japan are urging people living near the country’s north-east coast to evacuate to higher ground after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake triggered a tsunami alert, writes our Tokyo correspondent, Justin McCurry, with waves forecast to reach heights of three metres.

Tsunami waves have been observed in several areas, prompting warnings and advisories in Fukushima, Iwate and Aomori prefectures, as well as the northernmost main island of Hokkaido.

The public broadcaster NHK showed live footage of sections of coastline, with announcers repeatedly urging people to flee before darkness fell.

The earthquake, which struck offshore at a depth of 10km shortly before 5pm local time, recorded an upper-5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7, meaning the shaking was strong enough to make movement difficult without support and to topple furniture.

It has been 15 years since the same region was devastated by a magnitude-9 earthquake that set off a tsunami and a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The disaster killed almost 20,000 people, most of whom were swept away by the tsunami.

It’s 15 years since the much more powerful magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, ravaged parts of northern Japan. As Associated Press reports, it caused almost 20,000 deaths and forced nearly half a million people to flee their homes.

Some 160,000 people fled their homes in Fukushima because of the radiation spewed from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 26,000 of them haven’t returned because they resettled elsewhere, their hometowns remain off-limits or they have lingering concerns about radiation.

There are no nuclear power plants currently in operation in Hokkaido and Tohoku regions but Hokkaido Electric Power Co and Tohoku Electric Power Co have a number of shutdown nuclear power plants there.

Tohoku Electric said it was checking the impact of the earthquake and tsunami on its Onagawa nuclear power plant.

People in affected areas urged to evacuate

The strength of the earthquake has been revised up to 7.5 and the biggest waves due to the tsunami are expected in Iwate, Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures, authorities said.

Reuters reported that prime minister Sanae Takaichi said the government had set up an emergency task force and urged citizens in the affected areas to evacuate to safety.

Broadcaster NHK showed ships sailing out of Hachinohe port in Hokkaido in anticipation of the waves, as an alert ’Tsunami! Evacuate!’ flashed across the screen.

Bullet train services in Aomori at the northern tip of Japan’s main Honshu island were halted due to the tremors, Kyodo news agency reported.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to media after the tsunami alert Photograph: KYODO/Reuters

Tsunami alert issued after powerful quake off northern Japan

A powerful earthquake has struck off the northern Japanese coast, and the Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a tsunami alert in the region.

The quake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 occurred off the coast of Sanriku in northern Japan at around 4:53 p.m. (0753 GMT), at a depth of about 10km (6 miles) below the sea surface, the agency said.

Japan’s NHK public television said a tsunami of up to 3 meters (10 feet) could hit the area shortly.