Two powerful earthquakes have struck the north-eastern Indonesian Moluccas islands and Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, triggering tsunami alerts.
The first, which had a magnitude of 6.6, occurred at 0902 (0002 GMT) about 120km (75 miles) north of the city of Ternate, the US Geological Survey said.
THe quake is reported to have hit at 9.21 am local time off the eastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island at a depth of about 12 miles. A 4-inch tsunami rippled at the shore about 35 minutes after the quake.
Earlier a warning had been issued for a 20-inch tsunami along the eastern coast of Hokkaido and the northeastern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu. The warning was lifted about an hour later.
"There was some light shaking, but it was nothing major," said Yukio Yoshida, a police spokesman in Hokkaido.
Authorities temporarily advised about 10,600 residents of Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of Tokyo, to evacuate their homes, and ordered people to stay way from beaches throughout the region.
Earlier a warning had been issued for a 20-inch tsunami along the eastern coast of Hokkaido and the northeastern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu. The warning was lifted about an hour later.
"There was some light shaking, but it was nothing major," said Yukio Yoshida, a police spokesman in Hokkaido.
Authorities temporarily advised about 10,600 residents of Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of Tokyo, to evacuate their homes, and ordered people to stay way from beaches throughout the region.
