Small Tsunami Waves Hit Northern Japan After 6.7-Magnitude Offshore Earthquake

Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that small tsunami waves reached the country’s northern Pacific coast on Sunday evening following a strong offshore earthquake.

The first wave struck Miyako, in Iwate Prefecture, at around 5:37 p.m. local time (0837 GMT), though it was so small that officials could not measure its height. Two minutes later, a 10-centimeter (less than four inches) wave reached Ofunato, according to the JMA.

The quake, recorded at 5:03 p.m. (0803 GMT), struck off the coast of Iwate with a magnitude of 6.7, prompting the agency to issue a tsunami advisory warning of waves up to one meter (about three feet) high. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 6.8.

“A tsunami advisory has been issued for the Iwate coast,” the JMA said in a bulletin, cautioning that waves could reach the shore at any time. The agency also reported several aftershocks ranging from magnitude 5.3 to 6.3.

Despite the warnings, live television footage showed calm seas along the affected coastline. Earlier in the day, the same region experienced six smaller offshore quakes between magnitudes 4.8 and 5.8, none of which triggered tsunami advisories.

The Iwate region still carries the painful memory of the devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011, which left about 18,500 people dead or missing and caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster—the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Japan, located along the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire,” sits atop four major tectonic plates and experiences around 1,500 earthquakes annually. While most are minor, the impact can vary significantly depending on their depth and proximity to populated areas.