Strong quake hits Japan coast, Tsunami feared

An earthquake has struck off the coast off Japan sparking a tsunami warning.

Japan’s meteorological agency said a 7.0 magnitude quake hit off the country’s southern coast, near to the island of Okinawa.

The quake occurred at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) at 5:31am local time.

The agency predicted a tsunami up to 3 feet (1 metre) near the Okinawan coast.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was “no destructive threat” from a tsunami.

Ryota Ueno, a town official in the Nishihara district of Okinawa, said: “I was fast asleep when the quake hit and I jumped out of bed. It felt like the shaking lasted forever.”

There was no major damage in his house, and he then rushed to the town office to meet up with his colleagues and stand by in case of reports of damage from residents, Ueno told a telephone interview with public broadcaster NHK.

So far, only one resident reported a ruptured water pipe, but no other damage reported, he said.

Okinawa is about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo.

Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.