Powerful 7.6 quake strikes off Japan

TOKYO:

A major earthquake rocked Japan's northern coast on Monday, with the country's meteorological agency recording several tsunami waves and local media reporting injuries.

The magnitude 7.6 quake -- which struck off Misawa on Japan's Pacific coast -- reportedly forced residents to flee their homes and left thousands of people without power.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning, with one wave hitting a port in the northern region of Aomori, where Misawa is located.

Several more waves reached the coast, measuring up to 70 centimetres (two feet four inches), JMA reported.

Early on Tuesday the agency lifted the tsunami warning, according to Kyodo news agency, although JMA said lower-grade advisories remained in effect for parts of northern Japan.

Public broadcaster NHK cited a hotel employee in the city of Hachinohe in Aomori as saying there had been some injuries as a result of the quake, which hit at 1415 GMT.