tsunami alert in Japan
Meteorological Agency of Japan issued a tsunami warning in northeast Japan on Saturday after an earthquake measuring 7.0 in magnitude struck off the east coast of Honshu.
However, there were no initial reports of damage from the earthquake.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the tsunami warning was for around 50 cm.
The epicentre of the earthquake was off the coast of Fukushima prefecture, the same area as a June 14 earthquake that had killed at least 10 and left as many missing.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 per cent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude six or greater.
In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring more than 3,000.
That was the deadliest quake since a tremor of magnitude 7.3 hit the city of Kobe in 1995, killing more than 6,400