Japanese authorities on Monday withdrew the tsunami alert issued hours earlier after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake on the open Richter scale off the country’s eastern coast, with no reports of casualties or material damage so far. However, a warning remains in place for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, and Iwate, as well as Miyagi and Fukushima, for a potential ‘mega-earthquake’ that could occur as part of the aftershocks of the tremor.
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The Japan Meteorological Agency specified that the earthquake occurred around 4:55 p.m. (local time) off the coast of Sanriku, noting that the hypocenter was located about ten kilometers deep. Initially, the tsunami alert affected several regions in the east and northeast of the country, with the possibility of waves up to three meters high. Hours later, this alert was withdrawn, although the agency, as reported by Europa Press, has urged residents of seven prefectures to prepare for a possible disaster after officials cited by Japanese television channel NHK indicated an increased probability of a potentially devastating earthquake.
Due to the “imminent” tsunami, authorities recommend that people in affected areas evacuate to higher ground
This alert follows the magnitude 7.7 earthquake — preliminarily estimated at 7.4 — that shook Japan’s northeast coast, reported the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The tremor occurred at 4:53 p.m. (7:53 GMT) in Pacific waters, off the north of Iwate prefecture. The tremors were so intense that they shook large buildings even in Tokyo, several hundred kilometers away, AFP indicates.
The agency warned of the possible arrival of a tsunami up to three meters high in Iwate prefecture — 1.2 million inhabitants, according to 2023 data —, Aomori — 265,000 residents — and parts of Hokkaido island, with a population of over 5.2 million people, according to 2019 data.
According to NHK, a local television station, Tokachi port (Hokkaido) has already been hit by three-meter waves, and it is not ruled out that they could occasionally reach greater heights. The ports of Miyako, Ofunato, Kamaishi, and Kuji, in Iwate prefecture, would also have been impacted.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has published a message on X asking “all residents in regions where tsunami alerts have been issued” to “evacuate immediately to high ground or evacuation buildings or other higher and safer places.”
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“Immediately after the earthquake, the Government established the Official Residence Contact Room at the Official Residence Crisis Management Center and, based on my instructions, every effort is being made to gather information on the damage situation, implement emergency life-saving measures, and provide timely and accurate information to the public,” Takaichi adds in her message.
The Prime Minister has not yet communicated whether human or material damage has been recorded because the reports she has received “are awaiting confirmation.”
The tremor had its epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the JMA. The earthquake reached a level of “5 upper” on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, strong enough to make it difficult for people to move. In the past, in similar events, unreinforced concrete block walls have collapsed.
The south of the country is also on alert due to the eruption of the Sakurajima volcano
In the north of the country, an alert for tectonic phenomena has also been declared. On Saturday, the Sakurajima volcano, in Kagoshima prefecture, erupted, sending a column of ash that reached 2,300 meters in altitude. The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned that “Sakurajima’s eruptive activity has intensified recently” and asks the public to remain “vigilant” for possible new eruptions or the fall of large volumes of ash.
Japan sits on the so-called Ring of Fire, one of the most seismically active zones in the world, and experiences earthquakes with relative frequency, which is why its infrastructures are specially designed to withstand tremors.
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