An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 jolted wide areas on the Pacific side of Hokkaido and the Tohoku and Kanto regions Tuesday morning, with small tsunamis observed in several parts of Tohoku.
The quake occurred at 6:39 a.m. and a 30-cm-high tsunami reached Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, at 7:25 a.m., with smaller waves observed elsewhere, the Meteorological Agency said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the quake or the waves.
Trains on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line were temporarily suspended for safety checks.
The quake measured 3 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7 in the affected areas.
The epicenter of the quake was at a shallow depth under the seabed in the Pacific some 310 km east of the Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture.
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