The magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook Japan

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan today, rocking buildings in Tokyo and prompting the country's meteorological agency to quickly issue a tsunami warning on the east coast. north.

Earthquakes occur regularly in Japan

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake occurred at 11:45 am local time and there was an epicenter about 150km from the northeast coast - about 440km northeast of Tokyo - at a depth of 8km.

The latest sources said a 0.6m high tsunami hit the coastal town of Ofunato in Iwate prefecture just after noon. Other towns also recorded smaller waves hitting the shore about 30 minutes after the earthquake.

Earlier, the agency warned that a tsunami of about 0.5m high could attack the northeast coast of Japan around midday local time.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said there was no possibility of a massive tsunami.

" We confirmed a small tsunami had hit the shore, but we have not received notice of the damage at this time, " said Shinobu Nagano, a disaster and emergency response official in Iwate Prefecture.

A 6.3-magnitude aftershock occurred shortly after the earthquake.

There have been no reports of damage or casualties but officials are still evaluating the situation.

In Tokyo, office buildings were shaken for about 30 seconds during the earthquake.

Some railway lines in the north have been temporarily suspended after the earthquake but resumed right after noon.

Tohoku Electric Company announced that its Onagawa nuclear plant is still operating normally after the earthquake and Tokyo Electric Power Company also said its power supply operation is not affected.

Earthquakes occur regularly in Japan, one of the strongest seismic activity areas in the world. The country accounts for about 20% of the world's 6-magnitude or greater earthquakes.

In 1933, about 3,000 people were killed around Ofunato city in Iwate prefecture by an earthquake and tsunami as high as 28.7m, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). In 1896, an 8.5 magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami that killed 27,000 people in the area.