Magnitude 7.6 quake triggers a tsunami on Japan's northern coast

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful 7. 6-magnitude earthquake struck late Monday off northern Japan, triggering a tsunami of up to 27 inches in Pacific coast communities and warnings of potentially higher surges, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

Several people were injured, media reports said.

The quake struck at about 11:15 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean about 50 miles off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan's main Honshu island, the agency said.

A tsunami of 27.5 inches was measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture, just south of Aomori, and tsunami levels of up to 20 inches struck other coastal communities in the region, the agency said.

The agency issued an alert for potential tsunami surges of up to 10 feet in some areas, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara urged residents to immediately head to higher ground or take shelter inside buildings or evacuation centers until the alert is lifted.

Several people were injured at a hotel in the Aomori town of Hachinohe, and a man in the town of Tohoku was slightly hurt when his car fell into a hole, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Kihara said nuclear power plants in the region were conducting safety checks and that so far no problems were detected.

Several cases of fires were reported in Aomori, and about 90,000 residents were advised to take shelter at evacuation centers, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

Satoshi Kato, a vice principal of a public high school in Hachinohe, told NHK that he was at home when the quake struck, and that glasses and bowls fell and smashed into shards on the floor.

Kato said he drove to the school because it was designated an evacuation center, and on the way, he encountered traffic jams and car accidents as panicked people tried to flee. Nobody had yet come to the school to take shelter, he said.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in brief comments to reporters, said the government set up an emergency task force to urgently assess the extent of damage. “We are putting people’s lives first and doing everything we can,” she said.