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Massive quake in Japan triggers small tsunamis

An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale shook northern Japan yesterday, leading authorities to ask thousands of residents to flee their homes as small tsunami waves hit the Pacific coast.

No damage or casualties were reported from the tremor.

Tsunamis measuring up to 50cm brushed the east coast of northern Japan about one hour after the undersea quake hit at 6:39am, local officials said.

The focus of the shallow quake was about 350km off the main island of Honshu, the meteorological agency said.

Some of the highest waves were observed in Ofunato, a city in Iwate prefecture in the northern part of Honshu.

"There has not been any report of damage so far," Ofunato disaster prevention official Haruki Ito said.

He said some local oyster and scallop farms may have sustained damage.

Ofunato asked 3,487 households to flee their homes although only 120 people actually followed the advice, police said.

The coastal village of Tanohata in Iwate also advised some 900 people to evacuate, village official Masatsugu Kikuchi said.

"It was not compulsory but hundreds of residents evacuated their homes as a precaution," he said, adding that people had later returned home.

The quake triggered an automatic suspension of the Tohoku line of the Shinkansen bullet train, but the service resumed normal operations shortly afterwards, a railway spokesman said.

All the tsunami warnings were cancelled two hours after the quake struck, officials said.
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