Tsunami-weary Japan hit by strong quake

Tsunami-weary Japan hit by strong quake

Tokyo- A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 hit Japan's north-eastern coast yesterday, prompting a brief tsunami warning for the area still recovering from a devastating quake and killer wave four months ago. Resident in coastal areas were warned to evacuate for about two hours after the quake but there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake hit a t 9.57am local time and a warning of a tsunami was issued for most of the north-eastern coastline. The epicentre of the quake was in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan's main island, Honshu, at a depth of about 30km . Japanese officials predicted the quake could generate a tsunami of up to 50cm but the initial waves were only about 10cm. The tsunami warning was lifted after the fore-cast arrival time of the waves passed in most areas without any tsunami being recorded. The meteorological anency initially estimated the strength of the quake at 7.1 but later revised that to 7.3. It also revised the depth estimate from 10 to 30km. Japan's north-eastern coastline was devastated by an earthquake amd tsunami on March 11 that left nearly 23,000 people dead or missing and touched off a nuclear crisis at a badly damaged facility in fuku-shima Official said there were no reports of abnormalities at the fukushima plant caused by yesterday's quake, though worker were instructed to move to high ground. Airports in the area were also functioning normally. Japan is one of the world's most earth-quake-prone countries. Dozens of strong af-tershocks have been felt since the March 11 disaster, which measured a 9.0 magnitude and was the strongest in Japanese history. Sunday's quake registered 4 on the Japanese scale of 7, meaning it was felt as moderately strong. Because of the damage from the March quake and tsunami, however, many buildings om the area are structurally weak and seawalls have been destroyed, making the region more vulnerable to relatively weaker quakes.