OAN Staff Cory Hawkins and Brooke Mallory
3:00 PM – Monday, December 8, 2025
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Pacific Ocean approximately 45–50 miles east-northeast of Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, at around 11:15 p.m. local time on Monday.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also confirmed a smaller magnitude 5.5 aftershock roughly 15 minutes after the initial quake.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, approximately 90,000 Japanese residents were urged to evacuate to designated shelters.
Initially, the quake strongly shook northern Honshu and parts of Hokkaido, triggering tsunami warnings along the northeastern Pacific coast.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency had also issued an alert for potential tsunami surges of up to ten feet in some areas, with Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara advising residents to head to higher ground or take shelter inside buildings until the alert was lifted.
Nonetheless, small tsunami waves of only up to 70 cm (2 feet, 3.6 inches) were observed, according to reports, and the warnings were later lifted with no reports of major damage or fatalities.
Although no fatalities have been reported from the earthquake, several people were injured at a hotel in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture. In the wider Tohoku region, a driver was also injured when his vehicle fell into a sinkhole caused by the quake. Later reports confirmed multiple fires had broken out as well.
Authorities have since confirmed 23 injuries, including one serious case. Most victims were struck by falling objects during the intense shaking, which lasted up to 30 seconds in some areas.
Nuclear power plants in the affected region, including those in Fukushima and Aomori prefectures, conducted immediate safety inspections after the tremors subsided.
Additionally, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that the government had established an emergency response task force to assess the full extent of the damage and coordinate relief efforts, and a representative for Japan’s high speed railway lines announced that the service had been suspended in the affected areas.
Japan is said to be located in the “Ring of Fire,” where the Pacific Plate interacts with several others, such as the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, causing Japan to report around 1,500 earthquakes per year — roughly 18% of the world’s seismic activity.
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