TOKYO -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 hit northeastern Japanese coasts along Hokkaido and Iwate prefecture on Monday afternoon, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Tsunami warnings have been issued.

At around 4:53 p.m., an earthquake with a maximum intensity of upper 5 on Japan's seismic scale struck Aomori prefecture. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings for the central Pacific coast of Hokkaido and for Iwate prefecture, forecasting waves of up to 3 meters. A tsunami measuring 40 centimeters was observed in the city of Miyako in Iwate Prefecture.

Tsunami advisories were also issued for the Pacific coast of Aomori prefecture as well as for Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, with expected wave heights of up to 1 meter.

This is a developing story.