A magnitude 6.8 earthquake has struck off the northeastern coast of Japan this afternoon. The national meteorological agency has issued a tsunami advisory. Later it was canceled.
The quake happened at a depth of some 10 km. Kyodo news agency says the earthquake has reportedly left Japan's nuclear facilities unscathed.
The tsunami warning was meant for the coastal Aomori and Iwate prefectures as well as central and eastern Hokkaido coast. The authorities advised residents of the coastal areas to evacuate to higher ground.
The estimate put the height of the tsunami at about half a meter. Two waves measuring 20 and 10 cm respectively reached the Japanese coast, according to NHK TV channel. The tsunami alert was later canceled.
Wednesday's tremor came just days after Japan marked the anniversary of the March 11, 2011 disaster. At the time, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the strongest seismic event to ever hit the country, triggered a massive tsunami.
The disaster killed almost 15,900 people in Japan and badly damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
