Powerful quake rocks Japan

Last Modified: 11 Mar 2011 07:14 GMT

A massive 8.9 magnitude quake has hit northeast Japan, causing a four-metre tsunami along parts of the country's

coastline.

NHK television reported many injuries and showed pictures of major tsunami damage in the north, with cars, trucks, houses being swept away in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.

Many people were injured after a roof caved in during a school graduation ceremony at a hall in east Tokyo, the fire department in the capital said, after the quake hit on Friday.

The quake shook buildings in Tokyo for several minutes and sent people out onto the streets.

The news agency AFP said multiple injuries, but no immediate deaths, were reported from the Pacific coastal area of Miyagi on the main Honshu island.

Japan's NHK television showed black smoke billowing from a building in Odaiba, a suburb of Tokyo.

The quake that struck at 2:46pm was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, including a 7.4-magnitude one about 30 minutes later.

Tremors were felt as far away as in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The country's meteorological agency warned that a tsunami as high as six metres could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture, closest to the epicentre.

There was a warning of a 10-metre tsunami following the quake, Japan's biggest in 7 years.

The US Geological Survey issued a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific coast of Japan.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the

US state of Hawaii.

Yukiko Shimahara, a Japanese journalist, told Al Jazeera that the airports and trains in Tokyo have been shut down following the quake.

Friday's quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometres, about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, the meteorological agency said.

Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire"- an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 per cent of the world's quakes occur.

Several earthquakes have hit the region in recent days, including a 7.2-magnitude quake on Wednesday.

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