Tsunami warning issued for Japan isles after quake
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-19 15:25

A tsunami warning was issued for a group of islands south of Tokyo on Wednesday after a strong earthquake off Japan's eastern coast, and authorities urged local residents to evacuate to higher ground.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake, the focus of which was about 6.2 miles below the seabed in the Pacific Ocean, struck at around 3:11 p.m. (1:11 a.m. EST), Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

Tsunami around 20 inches high were expected to hit the Izu islands around 3:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. EST), it added. A tsunami 30 cm high was later detected on the shore of Miyake Island.

While there were no immediate reports of damage, public broadcaster NHK and local officials urged caution and called for local residents near the shore to evacuate.

"We are urging local residents to evacuate to high ground ... I believe there are few fishermen working along the shore. They can't work because the sea was rough," Haruyoshi Shimizu, an official at the Kozu town office on Kozu Island, told NHK.

NHK called for vigilence, saying tsunami could hit two or three times.

"The sea level has not risen so far ... We are urging local residents to be cautious," Mochimaru Koumatsu, an official in Hachijo town, near where the quake struck, told NHK.

The magnitude of the earthquake was measured according to a technique similar to the Richter scale, but adjusted for Japan's geological characteristics.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 40 people and injuring more than 3,000.

That was the deadliest quake since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit the city of Kobe on Jan. 17, 1995, killing more than 6,400.

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