A television screen shows a news report on Japan Meteorological Agency's tsunami warning, saying it expected tsunami waves of up to 3m to reach large coastal areas in northern Japan after an earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan, in Tokyo, Japan on Apr 20, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Issei Kato)

As it happened: Major quake hits northern Japan, triggers tsunami warnings

Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate prefectures were under tsunami warnings for several hours. 

· CNA · Join

Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST

TOKYO: A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off northern Japan on Monday (Apr 20), prompting a tsunami alert for several coastal areas where waves of up to 3m were expected. 

The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) also later flagged a 1 per cent chance for a mega-quake, compared with a 0.1 per cent chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful temblor near the Chishima trough.

Officials said the advisory was not a prediction but urged residents to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives.

Catch up on updates. 

Source: Agencies/fh/zl

Newsletter

Week in Review

Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review

Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.

Newsletter

Morning Brief

Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief

An automated curation of our top stories to start your day.

Sign up for our newsletters

Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox

Subscribe here

Get the CNA app

Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories

Download here

Get WhatsApp alerts

Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app

Join here