Magnitude 7.3 quake jolts Japan, tsunami warning issued

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 struck northeastern Japan's Fukushima on Tuesday, a weather agency said, while tsunami waves were observed in the area and two persons were injured.

The quake registered lower five on the Japanese seismic scale of seven in northeastern Fukushima prefecture, Xinhua quoted the Japan Meteorological Agency as saying.

Tsunami evacuation orders were issued in areas including Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, Aomori by the weather agency, as the first wave of tsunami was observed at coastline 20 km east of Iwaki city in Fukushima prefecture and then 1.4-metre tsunami were observed in Sendai in northeastern Miyagi prefecture after the quake.

The weather agency also warned of further tidal waves of up to three metres for Fukushima and one metres for other parts of the coastline facing the Pacific.

Tidal waves of 0.3-1.4 metres have been observed so far at Onahama port and Soma port in Fukushima prefecture, Ofunato port and Kuji port in northeastern Iwate prefecture, Sendai port and Ishinomaki Ayukawa in northeastern Miyagi prefecture, Oarai port in eastern Ibaraki prefecture and Katsuura in eastern Chiba prefecture.

Two old men were injured in Fukushima, with one struck by falling tableware at home and the other cut by broken glass at a nursing home.

The epicentre of the quake was at a latitude of 37.3 degrees north and a longitude of 141.6 degrees east and occurred at depth of 10km, said the weather agency.

The temblor was centred in waters offshore of northeastern Fukushima prefecture which borders the Pacific Ocean and is to the northeast of the nation's capital city of Tokyo.

The jolt, centred in the Fukushima, could be felt in central Tokyo and also shook other northeastern Japanese prefectures including Tochigi and Ibaraki.

In addition, Shinkansen train services were partially suspended in eastern Japan and power outage affected at least 1,100 households in Fukushima prefecture and central Niigata prefecture.

--IANS

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