A powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck north-eastern Japan on the night of December 8, injuring at least 30 people and prompting the evacuation of around 90,000 residents. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) initially warned that a tsunami of up to three metres (10 feet) could hit the country's northeastern coast. Alerts were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, and Iwate, Reuters reported. By Tuesday, December 9, authorities had lifted all tsunami warnings.
On Japan's 1-7 seismic intensity scale, the quake registered an “upper 6” in Hachinohe city, Aomori prefecture, strong enough to make standing impossible, forcing people to crawl for safety.
The earthquake was widely captured on video, with footage showing homes, offices, and public spaces being rattled.
One video captured a chaotic scene inside a house, where two men struggled to hold onto television sets; objects tumbled off tables. A woman was seen trying to steady herself while filming the tremors on her mobile phone.
Terrifying shaking as a magnitude 7.6 earthquake rocks Aomori, Japan. pic.twitter.com/YI8ZxAP71l
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) December 8, 2025
Footage from the Aomori Asahi Broadcasting branch office in Hachinohe City showed desks, computers, chairs and other office furniture shaking violently.
Japan: The moment the M7.6 earthquake hit Hachinohe City - captured from the Aomori Asahi Broadcasting Hachinohe branch office ????pic.twitter.com/ppJdYIxwoo
— Volcaholic ???? (@volcaholic1) December 8, 2025
Another clip showed a hanging light fixture swinging from the ceiling of a house, accompanied by an earthquake warning coming from a mobile phone.
A Japanese social media user shared this video of the massive earthquake that just hit northern Japan. As the light sways, you can hear earthquake warning alerts coming from a phone.pic.twitter.com/jXfrEGGcWr
— Jeffrey J. Hall ???????????????? (@mrjeffu) December 8, 2025
A video shared by Reuters Asia shows severely shaky surveillance footage capturing the exact moment the earthquake struck.
The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded tsunami warnings to advisories after a powerful 7.5-magnitude quake hit the northeastern coast https://t.co/y4ERppcyIB pic.twitter.com/AcVYmtwTIa
— Reuters Asia (@ReutersAsia) December 9, 2025
On Instagram, one video showed a resident's fish tanks shaking as the earthquake hit Japan.
Following the earthquake, the JMA issued an advisory covering a broad area from the northern island of Hokkaido to Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, urging residents to remain vigilant as another strong quake could strike within a week.
Power companies Tohoku Electric Power and Hokkaido Electric Power confirmed that no irregularities were detected at nuclear plants in the region. Thousands of households initially lost electricity after the quake, but the supply was restored by the morning of December 9.
Japan is among the most earthquake-prone nations in the world, experiencing a tremor roughly every five minutes. Situated along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” which is a zone of active volcanoes and deep oceanic trenches, the country accounts for nearly 20% of all global earthquakes measuring 6.0 or higher.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
