A TSUNAMI WARNING was issued in Japan after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast off the Fukushima region.

The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has said that earthquake happened at a depth of 10km and that tsunami waves are possible within 300km of its epicentre.

Waves of up to three metres high could hit the northeastern coast, the agency said, including Fukushima – home to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, site of one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.

The Meterological Agency this morning lifted its final tsunami warning, nearly seven hours after the earthquake struck.

The first pictures of some port areas showed that some some sea waters are being drawn back out to the pacific in what often precedes a tsunami.

The time between tsunami waves can be five minutes to one hour.

On 20 April 2011, an earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan damaged some of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.

Japan's meteorological agency has issued warnings. jma.go.jp jma.go.jp

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