TOKYO— A massive 8.8-magnitude
earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern
coast Friday afternoon, shaking buildings in
Tokyo for several minutes and sending people
out into the streets.
Japanese television showed major tsunami
damage in northern Japan on Friday. Public
broadcaster NHK showed cars, trucks, houses
and buildings being swept away by tsunami in
Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.
A tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hawaii.
Smoke was seen rising from a port building engulfed in flames.
Image: Reporters at the Associated Press Tokyo Bureau take shelter under a table Friday while a strong earthquake strikes Japan.
Itsuo Inouye / AP
Reporters at the Associated Press Tokyo Bureau take shelter under a table Friday while a strong earthquake strikes Japan.
The agency says the quake struck at 2:46 p.m. Friday at a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers), about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off the eastern coast, about 240 miles northeast of Tokyo.
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo.
Footage on national broadcaster NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks.
Police and coast guard officials said they were assessing possible damage from the quake.
Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude temblor on Wednesday.
