Earthquake hits Japan’s northeastern coast

Japan has issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck off its northeastern coast.

The meteorological agency gave the tsunami warning after the tremor hit some 210 kilometres (130 miles) off the northern island of Hokkaido. However, US monitors insist that there’s no Pacific-wide tsunami threat.

“No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data,” the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, but it warned that such earthquakes can generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the earthquake epicenter.