Fukushima tsunami warning lifted after strong quake hits Japan
TEHRAN(Basirat)- A tsunami warning has been lifted after a strong earthquake hit northeastern Japan.
Tokyo Electric Power Co said the cooling system for spent nuclear fuel at its Daini nucelar plant had briefly been stopped.
No damage has been reported at the company's other plants, although there have been some blackouts, said a spokeswoman.
The epicentre is not far from Fukushima prefecture's Daiichi plant, which in 2011 had a nuclear meltdown following Japan's strongest-ever earthquake - a 9.0.
People in the region were told to evacuate low-lying areas as TV pictures showed ships moving out to sea as tsunami sirens wailed.
Swells of two to three feet have so far been reported.
The quake struck off the Japanese coast, 67km northeast of Iwaki city, at a depth of 11.4km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Am Iwaki fire department official said there was smoke or a fire at a petrochemical research centre, but that it had been extinguished.
Tokyo, 150 miles south, also felt tremors from the earthquake - which struck at 6am local time (9pm GMT).
There are so far no reports of serious damage or injuries.
The country's meteorological agency put the earthquake at 7.3 magnitude, but the reading by the USGS was later downgraded to 6.9.
Japanese broadcaster NHK said the East Japan Railway Company had suspended some of its bullet train services.
Japan accounts for 20% of the world's earthquakes greater than 6.0 magnitude.
The 2011 disaster in Fukushima was the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl and left more than 18,000 people dead or missing.
