EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI HITS JAPAN

A 6.9 magnitude Earthquake has been felt in Japan Tuesday 6.00am Local Time, Monday 09:00pm UK time, says the Japan Meteorological Society. Initially it was thought to be a magnitude 7.3 quake but its size has since been downgraded.

The depth of the quake was estimated to be around 11km or 7 miles and was offshore.

The alert has prompted a tsunami warning of possible 3m (10ft) waves, but so far  waves of just 60cm (2ft) have arrived in Onahama Port in Fukushima, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK, another of 90cm in Soma. But the warning of larger waves is still in place and a possibility.

The quake brought back memories and fears of a similar quake in 2011 which decimated parts of the eastern coastline of the country costing billions to the countries economy and the shut down of all the countries nuclear power plants.

So far it is being reported that up to 50 people have been killed in this recent quake which is a stark contrast to the 18,000 who were killed in 2011.