Tokyo, July 10
A strong earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale today jolted Japan’s north-eastern coast, the same area that was devastated four months ago, triggering a small tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the 9:57 a.m. (0627 IST) quake, which registered 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in 11 municipalities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures including the city of Morioka in Iwate. The quake triggered a small tsunami in Iwate prefecture, measuring 10 cm. The JMA, immediately after the quake, forecast the height of the tsunami could reach half a metre. The agency initially put the quake’s magnitude at 7.1 but later revised it to 7.3, Kyodo news agency reported. Tremors from quake were felt as far away as Tokyo.

Workers at the crippled Fukushima N-power plant were evacuated as a precaution, after a tsunami alert was issued, and residents were warned to head for high ground. Japan’s northeastern coastline was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that left nearly 23,000 dead or missing and touched off a nuclear crisis at a badly damaged nuclear power facility in Fukushima. — PTI