Japan’s Meteorological Agency lifted a tsunami warning on Friday following a magnitude 6.7 earthquake off the northern coast, just days after a stronger tremor rocked the region and injured at least 50 people.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) initially warned that waves of up to one metre (three feet) could strike the northern Pacific coastline.
However, the actual waves measured only up to 20 centimetres in Hokkaido and Aomori, prompting authorities to lift the advisory. NHK reported no significant changes at the affected ports.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake struck 130 kilometres (81 miles) off the city of Kuji in Iwate Prefecture on Honshu, Japan’s main island.
The tremor’s shaking intensity was less severe than Monday’s larger magnitude 7.5 earthquake, which had toppled items from shelves, damaged roads, shattered windows, and triggered tsunami waves up to 70 centimetres.
Following Monday’s quake, residents near a damaged 70-meter-high steel tower in Aomori were ordered to evacuate due to the risk of collapse. The Nuclear Regulation Authority confirmed that no abnormalities were detected at the region’s nuclear facilities.
In the wake of the earlier quake, the JMA issued a rare special advisory, warning that additional tremors of similar or greater magnitude could occur over the coming week. This advisory applied to the Sanriku region on Honshu’s northeastern tip and northern Hokkaido along the Pacific coast.
The region remains sensitive due to memories of the catastrophic 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake in 2011, which triggered a devastating tsunami that claimed approximately 18,500 lives.
In August 2024, the JMA also issued a special advisory for Japan’s southern Pacific coast, highlighting the risk of a “megaquake” along the Nankai Trough, an 800-kilometre undersea trench where the Philippine Sea tectonic plate slowly subducts beneath the continental plate.
Japanese authorities have warned that a major quake along the Nankai Trough could result in up to 298,000 deaths and $2 trillion in damages. Past advisories, including the one in 2024, caused widespread public concern, panic-buying, and cancellations of holiday travel.
Japan sits atop four major tectonic plates along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is one of the world’s most seismically active countries.
The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences roughly 1,500 earthquakes annually, most of them minor, though their impact varies depending on location and depth.
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