Earthquake rocks northern Japan
At least 26 people were injured when a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 rocked Japan's north-east coast. A
tsunami alert was issued by Japan's meteorological agency but later lifted after two small waves a few centimetres high hit the coastline.
The quake's epicentre is thought to have been 20km (12.4 miles) below the ocean off Miyagi prefecture, striking at around 1146 (0246GMT). It shook buildings in the capital Tokyo, some 300km (186 miles) away.
The casualties were largely caused by the collapse of the roof of a swimming pool in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture. Initial reports suggested at least 80 people had been wounded. But state broadcaster NHK later said one person had been seriously hurt and 13 were slightly injured.
Bullet trains were suspended, three nuclear power station were shut down automatically for safety checks, and flights at Tokyo's Haneda airport were temporarily halted as a precaution. Some 17,000 households were reported to have lost power.
Two
tsunami around 10cm high (four inches) hit the coast about 15 minutes after the quake but were not thought to have caused any damage. There were also reports of a landslide in what is a mainly rural part of Japan.
