Tsunami predicted in Japan after 7.2 earthquake near Taiwan

Tsunami waves of up to 3 meters are predicted to hit Japan after a 7.2 earthquake near Taiwan.

The quake was very shallow, according to the Japan Meteorological Society.

Japan has issued an evacuation advisory for the coastal areas near the southern prefecture of Okinawa over the tsunami warning.

A tsunami of up to 3 meters was expected to reach Japan’s southwestern coast around 10am (0100 GMT), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

There is no tsunami threat to New Zealand, GNS Science and NEMA have confirmed.

The earthquake was also felt in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, and the power is out in some areas of the city, a witness has told Reuters.

Its epicenter was in the waters off the eastern coastline of Taiwan, according to the country’s Central Weather Administration.

The tsunami has already reached Yonaguni island, in southwestern Japan, NHK has reported.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami. Those events triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.

More to come.