A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 rocked eastern areas of Hokkaido early Monday, injuring at least 24 people.
The quake also jolted a wide area of Honshu ranging from the Tohoku to Kanto regions. It measured 3 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7 in Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.
The Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning on the eastern shores of Hokkaido's Pacific coastal area after the 3:32 a.m. temblor. It lifted the alert at 4:50 a.m.
The quake measured an intensity of upper-5 in the towns of Teshikaga, Kushiro and Betsukai in eastern Hokkaido, and a lower-5 in the city of Kushiro, the towns of Niikappu, Shizunai and Akkeshi, and in the village of Sarabetsu.
The focus of the quake was about 48 km under the surface of the Pacific off the Kushiro area, according to the agency.
Harue Kamata, 80, suffered a broken right arm when she fell at her home in the city of Nemuro and a 13-year-old boy in the town of Akkeshi was hit by falling objects, according to police and other local authorities.
About 13,000 households in Nemuro were advised to evacuate temporarily. The municipal government soon lifted the advisory.