Japan lifts tsunami warning after 7.5-magnitude earthquake

Japanese authorities lifted tsunami warnings on Tuesday hours after a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake shook northeastern regions, injuring at least 30 people and forcing about 90,000 residents to evacuate their homes.

The earthquake struck off the coast at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT) on Monday (December 8), and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) had said a tsunami as high as 3 meters (10 feet) could hit the country's northeastern coast.

Warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and tsunamis from 20 to 70 cm (7 to 27 inches) high were observed at several ports, JMA said.

The epicenter of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of Aomori prefecture, at a depth of 54 km. On Japan's 1-7 scale of seismic intensity, the tremor registered as an "upper 6" in Hachinohe, Aomori prefecture — a quake strong enough to make it impossible to keep standing or move without crawling.

By the early hours of Tuesday, the JMA downgraded the warnings to advisories, and later lifted all advisories. There were no reports of major damage.

NNN / JAPAN / REUTERS