Japan Hit by Big Quake, Small Tsunami

Updated 9:05 a.m. ET

TOKYO (AP) _ Japan's meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning today and told the country's Pacific coast residents to flee to higher ground after a powerful earthquake hit hundreds of miles away.

The agency later said that a small tsunami had hit northern Japan, estimated at 40 centimeters (16 inches) high. There is little threat of a tsunami to Japan, officials said.

A tsunami of 6 feet or higher had been expected expected to hit the Pacific coast of Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido and main island of Honshu after 9:10 p.m. (7:10 a.m. EST), the agency said.

An official from the town of Shibetsu on Hokkaido, Kiyoshi Takimoto, told public broadcaster NHK that about 4,000 of the town's 6,100 residents lived along the coast and had been told to flee to higher ground.

Takimoto said he didn't notice the quake. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, according to NHK.

A tsunami advisory was issued for Hawaii, where the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a destructive wave.

Cindy Preller, an official with the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, said no tsunami was expected to hit the West Coast of North or South America. She said there was a slight chance one could hit the western Aleutian Islands.

The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.1 struck about 245 miles east of the Etorofu islands, which are about 990 miles northeast of Tokyo, at 6:15 a.m. EST, according to the Japanese meteorological agency.

A Russian official said a powerful earthquake had struck the Kuril Islands area and there was no immediate word of damage or casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported on its Web site that a 7.8-magnitude quake had been detected 275 miles east-northeast of the Kurils at a depth of 17.2 miles. Temblors of magnitude 7 are generally classified as major earthquakes, capable of widespread, heavy damage.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami warning had been issued for Russia and Japan.

Aftershocks of the initial 8.1-magnitude quake may strike, possibly triggering more tsunami _ but those waves are expected to pose little danger to Japan, said Takeshi Hachimine, chief of the agency's earthquake and tsunami monitoring section.

A magnitude 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on Dec. 26, 2004 caused a tsunami that killed at least 213,000 people in 11 countries. Those waves reached as high as 33 feet.

Tsunami waves, which are generated by earthquakes, are often barely noticeable in the ocean but can rise to great heights once they arrive at shore.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because it sits atop four tectonic plates.

• The 2004 Indonesian Tsunami
• All About Earthquakes