A powerful magnitude 8.2 earthquake off northern Japan triggered tsunami warnings, sending thousands fleeing to higher ground but caused no injuries or damage, officials said.
Japan's Meteorological Agency lifted all tsunami warnings about nine hours after the temblor struck early on Saturday afternoon.
Japan's main island of Hokkaido lifted evacuation orders for 85,000 coastal residents in 22 towns as the fear of killer waves subsided, said prefectural official Koji Urano.
The quake hit near the Kuril Trench, about 500km east of the Etorofu, the largest of a disputed four-island chain known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Kuril islands in Russia.
It was about 30km below the seabed, the meteorological agency said.
The Japanese agency initially estimated the magnitude as 8.3 but later reduced that to 8.2, the same strength recorded by the US Geological Survey.
More than three hours after the quake, the largest wave, at 40cm, hit Chichi-jima, an island of 2,000 people about 1,000km south of Tokyo.
Small tidal swells were seen elsewhere, the agency said.
No injuries or damage were immediately reported from the offshore quake, said Hokkaido prefectural police spokesman Shinji Yamakoshi.
A tsunami warning was also issued for Alaska's western Aleutian islands, prompting some residents to flee. A tsunami watch issued for Hawaii was later canceled.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology also issued a tsunami alert. Thousands of panicked villagers evacuated, but no giant wave came.
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