Powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan sparking tsunami warnings

WorldEnvironment
20 Apr 2026 • 5:12 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan sparking tsunami warnings

  • A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern coast, prompting tsunami warnings.
  • Warnings have been issued for the Japanese coastline, with potential tsunami waves as high as 3m.
  • The earthquake occurred off the Sanriku coast at 4:53 pm local time, with its epicentre at a depth of approximately 10km.
  • The earthquake initially measured at 7.4 magnitude before later being upgraded to 7.5.
  • On Japan's ‌own seismic intensity scale it measured an “upper – strong ​enough to make ‌it ⁠difficult for people ⁠to move around. In many ‌cases, ​unreinforced concrete-block ‌walls collapse.

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