Tsunami hits Japan after 7.3-magnitude quake

TOKYO // A one metre-high tsunami hit northeast Japan today, after a powerful undersea quake struck off the coast that was devastated in last year's quake-tsunami disaster.

Meteorologists said the wave swept ashore at just after 1pm in Ishinomaki, a city badly hit by the 2011 tsunami that wrecked a large swathe of the north-east coast, killing thousands.

There were no immediate reports of any fatalities after the 7.3-magnitude quake that was followed by a 6.2 aftershock, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Residents of at least one town, Minamisanriku in Miyagi prefecture, were advised to get to safety, with reports suggesting other towns were also affected.

There was no threat of a Pacific-wide tsunami, US monitors based in Hawaii said. Officials in both Indonesia and the Philippines said there was no threat of a localised tsunami.

Nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power said there were no reports of any problems at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.