TOKYO (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck off the northern Japanese coast, and the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami alert in the region.

The quake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 occurred off the coast of Sanriku in northern Japan at around 4:53 p.m. (0753 GMT), at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the sea surface, the agency said.

A tsunami of about 80 centimeters (2.6 feet) was detected at the Kuji port in the Iwate prefecture, and a smaller tsunami of 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) was recorded at another port in the prefecture, the agency said.

A tsunami of up to 3 meters (10 feet) could hit the area, the agency said. In addition to the tsunami alert in Iwate and Aomori to the north and southeastern Hokkaido, the agency also issued a milder tsunami advisory for the coasts of Miyagi and Fukushima, south of the epicenter.

Another powerful 7.5 magnitude quake in December left dozens injured.

It's 15 years since a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, ravaged parts of northern Japan, caused more than 22,000 deaths and forced nearly half a million people to flee their homes, most of them due to tsunami damage.

Some 160,000 people fled their homes in Fukushima because of the radiation spewed from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 26,000 of them haven’t returned because they resettled elsewhere, their hometowns remain off-limits or they have lingering concerns about radiation.