The earthquake struck at 11:15 p.m. local time and was centered off the coast of Aomori prefecture, located on the northern tip of Japan's main island, Honshu. Multiple prefectures across northern Japan were under tsunami warnings,

A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for about 90,000 residents to evacuate.

The agency said the magnitude 7.2 quake struck off the coast of Hokkaido, near the coastal city of Aomori with an epicenter about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) below the sea surface.