The epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred at 23:36 local time (1436 GMT), was located off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture at a depth of 60 km, according to the JMA. Two million homes were left without electricity after the earthquake.
This agency immediately issued a one meter high wave warning. Waves as high as 30cm have finally been measured in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, north of Fukushima, according to the JMA, which urged residents to stay away from the waterfront.
18,500 dead 11 years ago
The shock, which was felt long and hard, including in Tokyo, cut off power to more than two million homes, including nearly 700,000 in the Japanese capital, according to operator Tepco. The JR East railway company, which serves the northeast of Japan, has announced major disruptions to its network.
According to the Japan Nuclear Safety Agency (NRA), no anomalies were found at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was severely damaged by a giant tsunami caused by a magnitude 9 earthquake on March 11, 2011.
At another nuclear power plant in the county, Fukushima-Daini, also shut down since 2011, as well as at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant (Miyagi County), the pumps of the spent fuel pools briefly stopped working, but quickly restored their operability. The NRA later said.