Dhaka, Dec. 9 -- A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan's northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate.
A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan's northeastern coast after the earthquake occurred offshore at 11:15pm (14:15 GMT) on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.
Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm (16 inches) had been observed at Aomori's Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido's Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said.
Several people were injured at a hotel in the Aomori town of Hachinohe, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The epicentre of the quake was 80km (50 miles) off the coast of ...