Magnitude 6.7 earthquake shakes Japan's northeast regionbr br An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 hit Japan's northeastern region on Dec. 12, 2025. Surveillance footage from four cities, Aomori, Hachinohe, Morioka and Urakawa, showed the moment the quake struck, causing the cameras to shake. The quake struck at around 11:44 a.m. (0244 GMT), off the coast of Aomori prefecture with a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles), after a bigger, 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the same region on Dec. 8. The government issued a special advisory warning residents across a wide area, from Hokkaido in the north to Chiba, east of Tokyo, to be on alert for an increased possibility of a powerful earthquake hitting again within a week.