A significant earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 struck off the coast of Sanriku in northern Japan at 4:53 PM local time (5:53 PM AEST), according to reports. The quake originated approximately 10 kilometers beneath the ocean’s surface.

In response, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has called for immediate evacuation in the affected regions and announced the formation of an emergency task force, as reported by CNN.

Prime Minister Takaichi advised residents in areas under tsunami warnings to evacuate without delay to higher ground or designated safe zones such as evacuation centers, according to national broadcaster NHK.

The authorities are fully engaged in assessing the situation, implementing emergency measures, including search and rescue operations, and ensuring the public receives timely and accurate updates, Takaichi assured.

“We are in the process of confirming the full extent of both the human and material damage, and we will soon receive more detailed reports to guide our disaster response efforts,” she added.

Meanwhile, a CNN producer based in Tokyo reported that the building they were in shook for approximately seven minutes during the quake.

The operator of the bullet train service that runs between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori station said the train had been suspended due to a power outage caused by the earthquake, NHK reported.

A tsunami of about 80 centimetres was detected at the Kuji port in the Iwate prefecture, and a smaller tsunami of 40 centimetres was recorded at another port in the prefecture, the agency said.

A tsunami of up to 3 metres could hit the area, the agency said. In addition to the tsunami alert in Iwate and Aomori to the north and south-eastern Hokkaido, the agency also issued a milder tsunami advisory for the coasts of Miyagi and Fukushima, south of the epicentre.

Another powerful 7.5 magnitude quake in December left dozens injured.

It’s 15 years since a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, ravaged parts of northern Japan, caused more than 22,000 deaths and forced nearly half a million people to flee their homes, most of them due to tsunami damage.

Some 160,000 people fled their homes in Fukushima because of the radiation spewed from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 26,000 of them haven’t returned because they resettled elsewhere, their hometowns remain off-limits or they have lingering concerns about radiation.