Local residents look out to sea from higher ground after evacuating their homes following a 6.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami alert in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, on November 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/JIJI PRESS)

Tokyo (AFP) - A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit northeast Japan on Tuesday, sparking panic and triggering a tsunami including a one-metre (three-foot) wave that crashed ashore at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. A tsunami alert has been issued after powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Fukushima Prefecture in Japan

The quake struck 67km northeast of the city of Iwaki located in the southern part of the Hamadori coastal region of Fukushima Prefecture. According to RT Japan’s Meteorological Agency stated that it was 5.7 with its epicenter located off the coast of the Fukushima Prefecture at a depth of 30km. Television footage showed ships moving out to sea from Fukushima harbours as the meteorological agency warned of a tsunami of 3m (10ft) for Fukushima, where Tepco’s Daiichi nuclear plant was devastated in a March 2011 quake and tsunami. Image copyright AP Image caption Miyagi prefecture police released a video showing water flowing up the Sunaoshi River as a result of the waves hitting the coast

The US Geological Survey initially put the magnitude at 7.3 but later downgraded this to 6.9, lower than the number given by the Japanese authorities. All Japan's nuclear power plants in the area were shut down in the wake of the March 2011 disaster, which knocked out the cooling systems of the Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing reactors to melt down and spew radiation into the air, soil and sea. 2 power plant stopped working after the earthquake but was restarted about 100 minutes later, according to operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the strong earthquake was itself an aftershock of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that triggered a deadly tsunami in the same region in 2011. Tohoku Electric Power Co said there was no damage to its Onagawa nuclear plant, while the Kyodo news agency reported there were no irregularities at the Tokai Daini nuclear plant in the Ibaraki prefecture. The temblor, an aftershock from the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake, which struck on March 11, 2011, had registered a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 but was revised to 7.4, the Meteorological Agency said.
A 6.9 magnitude earthquake off Japan's Fukushima Prefecture injures 15 people, and triggers a 1 meter tsunami that causes a temporary power disruption at Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant.