Tsunami came again in Japan

Tokyo (AFP): On Saturday a small tsunami reached the Pacific coast of northern Japan after a strong quake hit the region heavily damaged by the March earthquake and tsunami, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The port towns of Soma and Ofunato experienced 10-centimetre tsunami waves triggered by the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck off the main island of Honshu at 11.44am AEST, the agency said.

Communities along the Pacific coast issued warnings and advisories for local residents to seek higher ground, but no damage had been reported shortly after the tsunami and quake, which was strong enough to sway skyscrapers in Tokyo, about 400 kilometres from the epicentre.

The agency issued a tsunami advisory for Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. Advisory issued shortly after the offshore quake in the same general area as the 9.0-magnitude quake of March 11 that triggered a massive tsunami.

Television footage of the port in Ofunato, in the Iwate prefecture, did not show any visible sign of the tsunami, with the water surface seemingly calm and flat.

The US Geological Agency, which estimated the magnitude at 7.1, said the offshore quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it had not received reports of any fresh problems at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant after the latest earthquake.

”We are still checking details, but cooling of reactors is continuing,” a TEPCO spokeswoman said.

But the company told work crews near the water to seek higher ground due to the tsunami advisory.

The Japanese weather agency expected a small tsunami of up to 50 centi-metres along the affected region.

The earthquake and tsunami of the March 11, left about 22,000 people dead or missing.