Japan hit with tsunami warning after strong 7.5 earthquake

A tsunami warning has been issued in Japan for hundreds of kilometres of its north-eastern coastline on Monday after a major earthquake struck the Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 and occurred at 4:53pm local time. There have been no reports of injuries or damage. However, the quake caused shaking in buildings hundreds of kilometres away, reaching Tokyo.

Tsunami waves as high as three metres are expected to arrive in parts of the affected area over the coming hour, a warning broadcast on Japan’s NHK said.

Residents in the regions under the tsunami alert were told to evacuate immediately to higher ground (Photo: X)

Residents in the regions under the tsunami alert were told to evacuate immediately to higher ground.

The prime minister's office said it had set up a crisis management team.

Japan is among the most seismically active nations worldwide, positioned on four major tectonic plates along the western Pacific "Ring of Fire." The archipelago, inhabited by approximately 125 million people, usually encounters about 1,500 tremors annually and makes up roughly 18% of global earthquakes.

Most are mild, but the extent of damage depends on their location and depth beneath the Earth's surface.

Checks are ongoing at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which saw meltdowns in 2011 following a massive earthquake and tsunami along Japan's east coast that left 18,500 people dead or missing.