A massive earthquake struck northeastern Japan, killing at least four people and injuring 94 others, rattling buildings 275 kilometers away in Tokyo and knocking out electricity to hundreds of thousands, including in the capital.
Just before midnight on Wednesday, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck 60 kilometers off the shore of Fukushima.
Four people have perished, according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and the government is on high alert for the likelihood of more tremors in the next two to three days.
At least 94 individuals were injured, with four of them critically, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
An earlier tsunami warning for the northeast coast was canceled, and by the early hours of Thursday, power had been restored to the capital, however residents elsewhere remained without power.
Transportation ties to the northeast were also affected, with the Shinkansen bullet train service being suspended indefinitely and at least one major highway in the region being shuttered for safety inspections.
One of the world's most major earthquakes struck the Fukushima region 11 years ago, and the tsunami that followed wrecked the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing a meltdown.
A fire alarm had been triggered at a turbine building of the wrecked Fukushima reactor, authorities said.
Meanwhile, a Shinkansen bullet train carrying about 100 people derailed, fortunately no injuries were reported.
Following the 7.3 magnitude quake, photographs showed Tokyo's normally bustling cityscapes plunged into darkness, with police officers in an odd red light attempting to manage traffic.
Roads in the northeast were buckled by the quake, and items were flung from grocery shelves onto the floor beneath collapsing ceilings.
On social media, video footage showed a train in Tokyo violently rocking and rattling gaming equipment at a Fukushima arcade.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company reported that nearly 2 million homes, including 700,000 in the capital, were without power on Wednesday as a result of the earthquake.
Another utility, Tohoku Electric Power, reported that roughly 38,500 houses were still without power as of 7.40 a.m. local time on Thursday.
Japan is located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a swath of active seismicity that spans from Southeast Asia to the Pacific Ocean.
Although the country is routinely struck by earthquakes and has tight construction laws in place to ensure that buildings can withstand major tremors, the memory of the 2011 disaster lingers.
Last Friday, the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami, a minute's silence was held to remember the 18,500 people who died or went missing.
