Japan: M7.5 Quake Hits Off Aomori Prefecture, Tsunami Warning Issued

A powerful Magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck offshore at 11:15 PM in Japan, leading to immediate tsunami warnings and evacuation orders for residents. Warnings for waves up to 3 meters (10 ft) were issued for the north-eastern coast, specifically the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, and Iwate. Tsunamis between 20 and 50 cm (7-18 inches) high were subsequently observed at several ports in the region. Furthermore, authorities are cautioning the public that "there is a possibility of even more powerful tremors." They also urged attention be paid to the potential for a larger subsequent earthquake.

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Performers dance during a parade held on the final day of a two-day summer festival hosted by six northeastern Japan prefectures at the World Exposition in Osaka on June 15, 2025.

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Performers dance during a parade held on the final day of a two-day summer festival hosted by six northeastern Japan prefectures at the World Exposition in Osaka on June 15, 2025.

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Performers dance during a parade held on the final day of a two-day summer festival hosted by six northeastern Japan prefectures at the World Exposition in Osaka on June 15, 2025.

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Performers dance during a parade held on the final day of a two-day summer festival hosted by six northeastern Japan prefectures at the World Exposition in Osaka on June 15, 2025.

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Performers dance during a parade held on the final day of a two-day summer festival hosted by six northeastern Japan prefectures at the World Exposition in Osaka on June 15, 2025.

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Performers dance during a parade held on the final day of a two-day summer festival hosted by six northeastern Japan prefectures at the World Exposition in Osaka on June 15, 2025.

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Performers dance during a parade held on the final day of a two-day summer festival hosted by six northeastern Japan prefectures at the World Exposition in Osaka on June 15, 2025.

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Summer festival at Osaka expo

Performers dance during a parade held on the final day of a two-day summer festival hosted by six northeastern Japan prefectures at the World Exposition in Osaka on June 15, 2025.

Electric bus to run on Alpine route in central Japan

TATEYAMA, Japan, April 7 Kyodo - Video taken in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, on April 7, 2025, shows an electric bus set to be deployed on the tunnel section of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route straddling Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, unveiled to the media ahead of the April 15 start of the operation. (Kyodo)

[Breaking News]Electric bus to run on Alpine route in central Japan

TATEYAMA, Japan, April 7 Kyodo - Video taken in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, on April 7, 2025, shows an electric bus set to be deployed on the tunnel section of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route straddling Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, unveiled to the media ahead of the April 15 start of the operation. (Kyodo)

Electric bus to run on Alpine route in central Japan

Electric bus to run on Alpine route in central Japan

Photo taken in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, on April 7, 2025, shows an electric bus set to be deployed on the tunnel section of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route straddling Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, unveiled to the media ahead of the April 15 start of the operation.

Electric bus to run on Alpine route in central Japan

Electric bus to run on Alpine route in central Japan

Photo taken in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, on April 7, 2025, shows an electric bus set to be deployed on the tunnel section of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route straddling Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, unveiled to the media ahead of the April 15 start of the operation.

Electric bus to run on Alpine route in central Japan

Electric bus to run on Alpine route in central Japan

Photo taken in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, on April 7, 2025, shows an electric bus set to be deployed on the tunnel section of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route straddling Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, unveiled to the media ahead of the April 15 start of the operation.

[Breaking news] Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

TATEYAMA, Japan, April 2 Kyodo - Video taken April 2, 2024, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a snow-walled mountain sightseeing road connecting Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, ahead of its full-reopening on April 15 following its wintertime closure. (Kyodo)

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Photo taken April 2, 2024, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a snow-walled mountain sightseeing road connecting Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, ahead of its full-reopening on April 15 following its wintertime closure.

Vienna Boys Choir in Japan

Vienna Boys Choir in Japan

Vienna Boys Choir members sing during a press conference in Tokyo on May 1, 2023, held before the 525-year-old choir holds its first concert tour in Japan in four years following a COVID-19 hiatus. The choir will visit 15 prefectures for 28 performances.

Vienna Boys Choir in Japan

Vienna Boys Choir in Japan

Vienna Boys Choir members sing during a press conference in Tokyo on May 1, 2023, held before the 525-year-old choir holds its first concert tour in Japan in four years following a COVID-19 hiatus. The choir will visit 15 prefectures for 28 performances.

Vienna Boys Choir in Japan

Vienna Boys Choir in Japan

Vienna Boys Choir members sing during a press conference in Tokyo on May 1, 2023, held before the 525-year-old choir holds its first concert tour in Japan in four years following a COVID-19 hiatus. The choir will visit 15 prefectures for 28 performances.

Vienna Boys Choir in Japan

Vienna Boys Choir in Japan

Vienna Boys Choir members sing during a press conference in Tokyo on May 1, 2023, held before the 525-year-old choir holds its first concert tour in Japan in four years following a COVID-19 hiatus. The choir will visit 15 prefectures for 28 performances.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Photo taken March 19, 2023, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows snow removal work under way for the April 15 reopening of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a snow-walled mountain sightseeing road connecting Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, after wintertime closure.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Photo taken March 19, 2023, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows snow removal work under way for the April 15 reopening of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a snow-walled mountain sightseeing road connecting Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, after wintertime closure.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Photo taken March 19, 2023, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows snow removal work under way for the April 15 reopening of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a snow-walled mountain sightseeing road connecting Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, after wintertime closure.

S. Korea sends team to Japan to review import ban

S. Korea sends team to Japan to review import ban

TOKYO, Japan - Kazuyoshi Honkawa (R), director general of Japan's Fisheries Agency, speaks at the outset of a meeting with a South Korean expert team at the agency in Tokyo on Dec. 15, 2014. South Korea is expected to discuss easing of import restrictions imposed on fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, following the 2011 nuclear disaster in northeastern Japan.

Exhibit in Shanghai of Japan's food firms in Shikoku

Exhibit in Shanghai of Japan's food firms in Shikoku

SHANGHAI, China - People look around various food items at the official residence of the Consul General of Japan in Shanghai on Dec. 15, 2014, as 36 Japanese firms in Kagawa, Ehime, Tokushima and Kochi prefectures, all on the western Japanese island of Shikoku, exhibited their products in a promotional event.

3 and a half years after tsunami

3 and a half years after tsunami

NAMIE, Japan - Police officers search for the remains of people still missing from the March 2011 tsunami in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture on Sept. 11, 2014, three and a half years after the disaster. According to the National Police Agency, the disaster left 15,889 people dead while the whereabouts of 2,597 people in the three hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima remain unaccounted for.

3 and a half years after tsunami

3 and a half years after tsunami

NAMIE, Japan - Police officers search for the remains of people still missing from the March 2011 tsunami in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture on Sept. 11, 2014, three and a half years after the disaster. According to the National Police Agency, the disaster left 15,889 people dead while the whereabouts of 2,597 people in the three hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima remain unaccounted for.

Tourists ride shinkansen look-alike train

Tourists ride shinkansen look-alike train

MATSUYAMA, Japan - Children and railroad fans ride a sightseeing train whose outward appearance looks like the original 0 series shinkansen bullet train in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, on March 15, 2014. Shikoku Railway Co. began operating the one-car train on the JR Yodo Line connecting Ehime and Kochi prefectures in western Japan.

"Seven Stars" luxury train

"Seven Stars" luxury train

FUKUOKA, Japan - Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows the "Seven Stars in Kyushu" train running near the border between Fukuoka and Oita prefectures on Oct. 15, 2013, as local residents hold signs to welcome the launch of the luxury cruise and sleeper train service.

Solar power plant in Hokkaido

Solar power plant in Hokkaido

OBIHIRO, Japan - Softbank Corp., which has formed a natural energy council with 35 of Japan's 47 prefectures, launches power generation at a 100-kilowatt experimental solar power plant in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Dec. 15, 2011.

Woods participates in charity golf event

Woods participates in charity golf event

MIKI, Japan - Professional golfers (from L) Shinobu Moromizato, Tiger Woods, Miho Koga and Rui Kitada pose for photos at the Masters Golf Club in Miki, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, on Nov. 1, 2011, before taking part in a charity golf event for the reconstruction of areas hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The event organizer will donate 15 million yen each to the most-severely-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima out of revenues from the event.

Japan companies from disaster-hit areas at China trade fair

Japan companies from disaster-hit areas at China trade fair

GUANGZHOU, China - Photo shows the Japanese booth at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, southern China, on Oct. 15, 2011. Companies from the disaster-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima are taking part in the exhibition at the booth. China's largest trade fair continues through Nov. 4.

Japan companies from disaster-hit areas at China trade fair

Japan companies from disaster-hit areas at China trade fair

GUANGZHOU, China - People visit the Japanese booth at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, southern China, on Oct. 15, 2011, the opening day for the public. Companies from the disaster-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima are taking part in the exhibition at the booth. China's largest trade fair continues through Nov. 4.

Half year after disaster

Half year after disaster

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan - At the site where the main building of the Kongo Temple was swept away by a tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, a fire burns in a rite on Sept. 11, 2011, the six-month anniversary of the March 11 quake and tsunami. The ceremony was attended by Buddhist monks from six prefectures of the Tohoku area of northeastern Japan and some 250 other people. The March 11 disaster killed more than 15,700 people, while 4,000 remain missing, mainly in the Tohoku area.

Half year after disaster

Half year after disaster

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan - At the site where the main building of the Kongo Temple was swept away by a tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, a fire burns in a rite on Sept. 11, 2011, the six-month anniversary of the March 11 quake and tsunami. The ceremony was attended by Buddhist monks from six prefectures of the Tohoku area of northeastern Japan and some 250 other people. The March 11 disaster killed more than 15,700 people, while 4,000 remain missing, mainly in the Tohoku area.

Regional elections across Japan

Regional elections across Japan

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto casts his ballot in the election on April 10, 2011, to choose members of the Osaka prefectural assembly at a polling station in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture. The first of two unified rounds of regional polls slated for April were held the same day to pick governors of 12 of Japan's 47 prefectures, mayors of four cities and assembly members of 41 prefectures and 15 of the country's major cities. (Pool photo)

Security cameras to be installed in 15 residential areas in Japan

Security cameras to be installed in 15 residential areas in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken June 25 shows a security camera set up near a street in the Roppongi area of Tokyo. The National Police Agency said the same day that it will install a network of security cameras at 15 residential areas in 14 out of the country's 47 prefectures as part of nationwide crime-prevention efforts.

Niigata marks 1st anniversary of major offshore quake

Niigata marks 1st anniversary of major offshore quake

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan - A memorial ceremony is held July 16 in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on the first anniversary of a magnitude 6.8 offshore earthquake that killed 15 people and injured 2,346 in Niigata, Nagano and Toyama prefectures. Attendees of the ceremony prayed for the dead.

Ex-abductee Soga voices gratitude for support

Ex-abductee Soga voices gratitude for support

SADO, Japan - Former abductee Hitomi Soga speaks at a news conference in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 17 as she marks the fifth anniversary of her repatriation from North Korea. Soga and four other Japanese abductees, abducted by North Korean agents in three separate cases in 1978 from Niigata and Fukui prefectures, were repatriated to Japan on Oct. 15, 2002.

Campaigning for governor races in Tokyo, 12 prefectures to begin

Campaigning for governor races in Tokyo, 12 prefectures to begin

TOKYO, Japan - Candidates contesting the Tokyo gubernatorial election in April attend a public debate in Nakano Ward, Tokyo on March 15 on the issue whether Tokyo should bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. From L to R: architect Kisho Kurokawa, former Adachi Ward mayor Manzo Yoshida, former Miyagi Gov. Shiro Asano, and incumbent Shintaro Ishihara, who is running for a third four-year term. Campaigning for gubernatorial elections in Tokyo and 12 other prefectures is set to begin March 22.

Heavy snow continues to disrupt northwestern Japan

Heavy snow continues to disrupt northwestern Japan

MINAMI-ECHIZEN, Japan - Residents of Minami-Echizen town in Fukui Precfecture remove snow from the roofs of their houses on Dec. 15 after heavy snow hit northwestern Japan, with mountainous areas in Niigata and Fukui prefectures seeing more than 150 centimeters.

Heavy snow continues to disrupt northwestern Japan

Heavy snow continues to disrupt northwestern Japan

MINAMI-ECHIZEN, Japan - A train runs at reduced speed between snow-covered trees in the town of Minami-Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, on Dec. 15. Heavy snowfall hit northwestern Japan, with mountainous areas in Niigata and Fukui prefectures seeing more than 150 centimeters.

Gov't panel starts studying how to curb juvenile crime

Gov't panel starts studying how to curb juvenile crime

TOKYO, Japan - State minister Yoshitada Konoike addresses the first session of a government panel held July 15 to discus prevention of juvenile crime in response to a series of murders allegedly committed by minors in Nagasaki and Okinawa prefectures.

4 Afghans ask gov't to grant them refugee status

4 Afghans ask gov't to grant them refugee status

TOKYO, Japan - Khodadad (L, front) and three other Afghan nationals, who filed requests for refugee status with Japan's Justice Ministry, speak at a news conference Oct. 15 in Tokyo. The four men, ranging in age from 29 to 50 and belonging to ethnic minority groups opposed to the Taliban, came to Japan between 1998 and 1999 and live in prefectures including Osaka and Chiba.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tourists walk along the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route on April 15, 2022, as the snow-walled mountain road in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, fully reopened to traffic after its wintertime closure. The scenic road in central Japan connects Toyama and Nagano prefectures.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tourists visit the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route on April 15, 2022, as the snow-walled mountain road in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, fully reopened to traffic after its wintertime closure. The scenic road in central Japan connects Toyama and Nagano prefectures.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tourists visit the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route on April 15, 2022, as the snow-walled mountain road in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, fully reopened to traffic after its wintertime closure. The scenic road in central Japan connects Toyama and Nagano prefectures.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tourists visit the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route on April 15, 2022, as the snow-walled mountain road in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture, fully reopened to traffic after its wintertime closure. The scenic road in central Japan connects Toyama and Nagano prefectures.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Photo taken March 25, 2022, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows snow removal work under way for the April 15 reopening of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a snow-walled mountain sightseeing road connecting Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, after wintertime closure.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in central Japan

Photo taken March 25, 2022, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows snow removal work under way for the April 15 reopening of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a snow-walled mountain sightseeing road connecting Toyama and Nagano prefectures in central Japan, after wintertime closure.