Magnitude 7.5 quake in northern Japan injures 23 people and triggers a 2-foot tsunami

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off northern Japan late Monday, injuring 23 people and triggering a tsunami in Pacific coast communities, officials said. Authorities warned of possible aftershocks and an increased risk of a megaquake.

The Japanese government was still assessing damages from the tsunami and late-evening quake, which struck at about 11:15 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean, around 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan’s main Honshu island.

“I’ve never experienced such a big shaking,” convenience store owner Nobuo Yamada told the public broadcaster NHK in the Aomori prefecture town of Hachinohe, adding that “luckily” power lines were still operating in his area.

A tsunami of up to 70 centimeters (2 feet, 4 inches) was measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture, just south of Aomori, and tsunami levels of up to 50 centimeters struck other coastal communities in the region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 23 people were injured, including one seriously. Most of them were hit by falling objects, NHK reported, adding that several people were injured in a hotel in Hachinohe and a man in Tohoku was slightly hurt when his car fell into a hole.

The meteorological agency reported the quake's magnitude as 7.5, down from its earlier estimate of 7.6. It issued an alert for potential tsunami surges of up to 3 meters (10 feet) in some areas and later downgraded to an advisory.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara urged residents to go to higher ground or seek shelter until advisories were lifted. He said about 800 homes were without electricity, and that the Shinkansen bullet trains and some local lines were suspended in parts of the region.

Nuclear power plants in the region were conducting safety checks, Kihara said. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said about 450 liters (118 gallons) of water spilled from a spent fuel cooling area at the Rokkasho fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori, but that its water level remained within the normal range and there was no safety concern.

About 480 residents were taking shelter at the Hachinohe Air Base, and 18 defense helicopters were mobilized for a damage assessment, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.

About 200 passengers were stranded for the night at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, NHK reported.

The meteorological agency issued a caution about possible aftershocks in the coming days. It said there is a slight increase in risk of a magnitude 8-level quake and possible tsunami occurring along Japan's northeastern coast from Chiba, just east of Tokyo, to Hokkaido. The agency urged residents in 182 municipalities in the area to monitor their emergency preparedness in the coming week.

Satoshi Kato, a vice principal of a public high school in Hachinohe, told NHK that he was at home when the quake struck, and that glasses and bowls fell and smashed into shards on the floor.

Kato said he drove to the school because it was designated an evacuation center, and on the way he encountered traffic jams and car accidents as panicked people tried to flee. Nobody had yet come to the school to take shelter, he said.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in brief comments to reporters that the government set up an emergency task force to urgently assess the extent of damage. “We are putting people’s lives first and doing everything we can,” she said.

Later, she urged residents in the region to pay attention to the latest information from local municipalities. “Please be prepared so you can immediately evacuate as soon as you feel a tremor."

The quake struck about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Hachinohe, and about 50 kilometers (30 miles) below the sea surface, the meteorological agency said.

It was just north of the Japanese coast that suffered the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011 that killed nearly 20,000 people and destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

“You need to prepare, assuming that a disaster like that could happen again," the meteorological agency's earthquake and volcano division official Satoshi Harada said.

At 6:20 a.m. on Tuesday morning, authorities lifted all tsunami advisories for the Pacific coastline in northern Japan, NHK said.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported another earthquake, with a magnitude 5.1, early on Tuesday, about 122 kilometers (76 miles) south of Honcho, at a depth of 35 kilometers. No other details were immediately available.

A man clears the debris from a powerful earthquake at a commercial facility in Hachinohe, Aomori prefecture, northern Japan Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Ren Onuma/Kyodo News via AP)

This aerial photo shows a vehicle sitting on a damaged road in Tohoku town, Aomori prefecture, northern Japan Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, following a powerful earthquake on late Monday. (Kyodo News via AP)

Smoke rises from the site of a fire in Aomori, northern Japan Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, following a powerful earthquake on late Monday. (Kyodo News via AP)

Evacuees get ready to return home as a tsunami advosory has been lifted in Hidaka town, northern Japan Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, following a powerful earthquake on late Monday. (Kyodo News via AP)

Papers are scattered on the floor at an office in Hakodate, Hokkaido, northern Japan Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, following a powerful earthquake on late Monday. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara speaks during a news conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo early Tuesday, Dec. 9, following a strong earthquake in northeastern Japan. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo after a strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan. (Kyodo News via AP)

A tsunami warning is displayed on a television in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, after a strong earthquake hits off Japanese northern coast, tsunami alert issued. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

WACO, Texas (AP) — Candidates in Texas’ tightly competitive U.S. Senate primary were treading carefully in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, with some giving the war a glancing mention in the final hours of campaigning before Tuesday's election. Others didn't raise it at all.

Asked about the strikes Monday, Republican candidates and voters were more robust in their support of the Trump administration's action than Democrats were. But with many unknowns about the attacks and the United States' long-term plans, candidates were cautious in discussing details or opinions about what may happen next in the fast-moving military action.

Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton breezed through his 15-minute remarks with scarcely a mention during a lunchtime event at a restaurant in Waco, his last campaign event before Tuesday's election.

Talking to reporters afterward, Paxton stood by President Donald Trump's actions. He suggested that as a Texas official he had no information about the long-range plan. But Paxton said the action would have little effect on the MAGA base, whom the president promised he would avoid what he calls “forever wars,” those without clear exit strategies.

But when asked whether Trump had been clear in communicating the objectives of the strikes, Paxton declined to answer.

“An open-ended war? I don’t have any intelligence, but I don’t think that’s Trump’s idea,” Paxton said. “He wants to get this over with.”

At George's Restaurant and Bar in Waco, plenty of Paxton's supporters said they applaud the administration's actions.

Connie Stamps of Waco said the action, notably killing Iranian leadership, “is going to be good for the whole world.”

“I'm very thankful we have a president who does what he says he's going to do," she said, dismissing the question that Trump was starting an overseas conflict he campaigned against. “He cares about the whole world. He's the peace president.”

In all three of his presidential campaigns, Trump campaigned against prolonged foreign military entanglements, although he and his administration have provided little information about long-term goals beyond eliminating Iran's power structure. U.S. talks with Iran on reaching an agreement about its nuclear program had been ongoing in recent weeks.

Four-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn, challenged in a competitive primary campaign by Paxton and U.S. Rep Wesley Hunt, also talked little about Iran during his remarks at an event in Schertz, a suburb of San Antonio.

Questioned later by a reporter, Cornyn said he supports the attack, which the Trump administration conducted without first getting congressional approval. But when asked if Trump has done a good job explaining the objectives for the war, Cornyn pivoted somewhat.

“We'll have a debate in Congress what the goals and objectives are,” he said, while adding, "I am completly satisfied in the president’s explanation.”

Cornyn referenced Trump's video announcement of the attacks: “I think the president made a cogent and good explanation. I think there will be more debate.”

Aboard Air Force One with Trump last week headed to Texas, Cornyn said, he and other members of the state’s congressional delegation were asked by Trump their thoughts about a strike, to which Cornyn said the rest of the contingent said they supported it.

Elton Hartwich, who wore a Vietnam veteran cap, said he supports the war, and thinks others should too.

“I think it should be backed by more poeple,” he said. "I think we as Americans gotta look back at what Iranians did to our people."

But David Ozuna, of New Braunfels, Texas, who attended Cornyn's event, said he doesn’t support the strikes and thinks Trump has inadequately explained his reasons or what would constitute an acceptable resolution. Ozuna's position is rooted in his own family members who died and were wounded while serving in the military.

“I think that we as citizens, before we send our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers to support this thing, deserve to have a good explanation as to what we’re doing, what the objective is and where we’re going," Ozuna said.

Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, who is running against Rep. Jasmine Crockett for their party's nomination, touched lightly on the conflict during a rally at the University of Houston, lamenting only the deaths of three U.S. service members killed.

But Charles Padmore from Houston was unsparing, calling the strikes on Iran “absolutely horrible.”

“It shouldn't have happened. It's illegal. We're the aggressor. They didn't do anything to us, really, so we shouldn't have been so aggressive in attacking them, and a lot of people have died," Padmore said.

He said that Trump had not adequately explained his objectives to the nation, and fears the war could linger for years. “This could go for years to come if they don’t have a clear exit strategy," he said.

Vertuno reported from Schertz, Texas. Associated Press writers Juan Lozano in Houston and John D. Hanna in Dallas contributed to this report.

U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, arrives at a campaign event, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Primary candidate for U.S. Senate Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, responds to a question during a broadcast interview at a campaign stop in Dallas, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

James Talarico, a Texas Democratic primary candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during an event at the University of Houston Monday, March 2, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop in The Woodlands, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, addresses supporters during a campaign stop, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)