80-cm Tsunami strikes northern Japan after powerful 7.4 earthquake

In Japan, a tsunami wave of 80-centimetre (31-inch) hit a port in northern part of the country on Monday following a powerful 7.4magnitude earthquake struck the region, the country's meteorological agency said. Two hours after the tremor, which struck at 4:52 p.m. (0752 ​GMT), tsunami waves as high as 80 cm had been detected, though warnings remained for possible bigger ​waves at the top of Japan's main Honshu island, and the northern ⁠Hokkaido region.

7.4 magnitude earthquake unleashes tsunami waves in northern Japan. pic.twitter.com/UXRws9p43b

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Several port towns ​including Otsuchi and Kamaishi - both hard-hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 - earlier issued evacuation orders for thousands of residents, according to public broadcaster NHK. Bullet train services were halted and some motorways were closed due ​to the tremors.
The tsunami wave was observed at 5:34 pm (local time) at the Kuji port in the Iwate prefecture, according to Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA). JMA earlier said a 70-centimetre wave had struck at 5:32 pm, AFP reported. A smaller tsunami of 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) was also recorded at another port in the prefecture, the agency said. The JMA had also issued a milder tsunami advisory for the coasts of Miyagi and Fukushima, south of the epicenter of the earthquake, the Associated Press reported.
Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific "Ring of Fire". The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences around 1,500 jolts every year and accounts for about 18 percent of the world's earthquakes.