30 injured as 7.5-m quake hits Japan; authorities warn of bigger tremor

At least 30 people were injured after a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Japan late on Monday night, unleashing tsunami waves that rose up to 70 centimetres along sections of the Pacific coast, local media reported on Tuesday, citing government officials.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the quake struck at 11:15 pm, its epicentre lying off the eastern coast of Aomori Prefecture at a depth of 54 kilometres — a violent shudder from the depths of the Pacific.

Kyodo News reported that the agency warned of the possibility of another tremor of equal or greater force in the coming days, raising anxiety across the region as aftershocks continued to rattle communities through the night.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged residents to remain vigilant throughout the week, advising households to secure furniture, brace loose items, and closely follow updates from local authorities and the weather agency. The prime minister’s words carried the weight of experience, echoing through a nation all too familiar with the dangers beneath its feet.

The quake struck along a submarine trench stretching off Hokkaido and northeastern Japan, an area where the Pacific Plate relentlessly sinks beneath the Honshu mainland — a geological battleground known for spawning major earthquakes.

The JMA, which initially estimated the magnitude at 7.6, later revised it to 7.5 and issued a tsunami warning of waves up to 3 metres. While the highest recorded wave reached 70 centimetres in Iwate Prefecture, the tremor’s power was unmistakable: in parts of Aomori, it registered an upper 6 on Japan’s seismic scale — a level where standing becomes nearly impossible and movement requires crawling.

Roughly three and a half hours after the quake, the tsunami warning was downgraded to an advisory, and by 6:20 am on Tuesday, the advisory too was lifted, bringing temporary relief to sleepless communities.

In the quake’s aftermath, the JMA issued a rare special alert for a massive earthquake along the trench — the “Off the Coast of Hokkaido and Sanriku Subsequent Earthquake Advisory” — activated only when a confirmed magnitude of 7.0 or greater is detected.

The agency assessed a 1-in-100 chance of a magnitude 8 or stronger earthquake occurring within the next seven days. Despite this, officials stopped short of calling for pre-emptive evacuation, instead urging calm preparedness in the face of uncertainty.

Across the northeastern coast, the night’s violent reminders of Japan’s seismic reality gave way to a dawn of watchfulness — a nation listening closely to the murmurs of the earth.

With IANS inputs