Japanese authorities lifted tsunami warnings on Tuesday hours after a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake shook northeastern regions, injuring at least 30 people and forcing about 90,000 residents to evacuate their homes.<br /><br />The earthquake struck off the coast at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT) on Monday (December 8), and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) had said a tsunami as high as 3 meters (10 feet) could hit the country's northeastern coast. <br /><br />Warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and tsunamis from 20 to 70 cm (7 to 27 inches) high were observed at several ports, JMA said.<br /><br />The epicenter of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of Aomori prefecture, at a depth of 54 km. On Japan's 1-7 scale of seismic intensity, the tremor registered as an "upper 6" in Hachinohe, Aomori prefecture — a quake strong enough to make it impossible to keep standing or move without crawling.<br /><br />By the early hours of Tuesday, the JMA downgraded the warnings to advisories, and later lifted all advisories. There were no reports of major damage. <br /><br />NNN / JAPAN / REUTERS<br />
