A powerful earthquake struck the coast of northern Japan on Monday, triggering short-term tsunami warnings that have since been lifted. As of 12:29 p.m. local time on April 20, Japan is at a slightly elevated risk of experiencing a megaquake over the next week, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) .

Monday's earthquake occurred on April 20, 2026 off the coast of Sanriku, Iwate Prefecture at a depth of 10 kilometers (around 6.21 miles), at 4:53 p.m. local time, per the JMA. The earthquake was a magnitude 7.7 on the Richter scale, with an intensity of upper 5 on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 in the hardest-hit areas.

According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center 's latest tsunami warning for Japan, “based on all available data...…