Massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake hits off Japanese coast, tsunami alert issued

A strong earthquake took place off the northern coast of Japan Monday afternoon, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to put out a tsunami alert in the area.

The quake, registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.5, occurred off the coast of Sanriku in northern Japan at around 4:53 p.m. local time, at a depth of about 6 miles below the sea surface, the agency said.

NHK public television indicated that a tsunami of as high as 10 feet could impact the region soon.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated

The Associated Press contributed to this report