An earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan on Monday and authorities urged people to move to higher ground after issuing a tsunami warning.
The Weather Channel reported that it was a 7.4 magnitude earthquake while the BBC said it was a 7.7 magnitude earthquake.
According to The Weather Channel:
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake’s epicenter was about 62 miles east-northeast of Miyako on the coast of Sanriku. It occurred around 4:53 pm local time (3:53 am EDT), and a tsunami warning was issued for Iwate Prefecture, the central Pacific coastal area of Hokkaido Prefecture, and the coastal area of Aomori Prefecture. A magnitude 5.6 aftershock struck less than an hour after the main earthquake.
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Japan’s meteorological agency said a tsunami of about 2.6 feet was detected at the port of Kuji in Iwate Prefecture, and a smaller tsunami of 1.3 feet was recorded at another port in the prefecture.
Tsunami warnings have been lowered, but Japan is still on high alert for aftershocks due to the threat of an even larger earthquake in the coming days, according to the BBC.
“Thousands of people were urged to seek higher ground in the earthquake-prone country after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the north-eastern coast on Monday,” the outlet said. “Undersea activity off Iwate Prefecture triggered a series of tsunami warnings in the area and tremors were felt as far away as the capital, Tokyo, about 530 km (330 miles) south.”
Aerial video footage shows waves increasing as they approach coastal areas:
Another clip was captured as the earthquake struck, Shake Residential area monitoring cameras:
“Within hours of the earthquake, officials issued an advisory for an increased risk of a possible ‘mega-earthquake.’ The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there is a 1 percent chance of a mega-earthquake hitting the northern Japanese coast in the next week or so,” the Weather Channel said, advising people to prepare emergency food and keep a bag nearby during their daily routine.
More video footage shows an office building in Tokyo shaking from the inside as the earthquake struck:
Tsunami is defined as “a wave generated by large earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, submarine landslides, or coastal landslides occurring near or under the ocean that causes large amounts of debris to fall into the water,” the USGS website reads.
The site also described an earthquake as the reaction that occurs when two sections of the Earth slide past each other along a fault plane.
