Strong earthquake near Taiwan prompts tsunami warning for southern Japan – National

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Japan issued an evacuation advisory for the coastal areas near the southern prefecture of Okinawa after a powerful earthquake near Taiwan triggered a tsunami warning Wednesday morning.

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

The warning came after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 struck in the ocean off the coast of Taiwan, rocking the entire island and collapsing buildings.

Television showed buildings in the eastern city of Hualien shaken off their foundations. The earthquake came at 7:58 am and could be felt in the capital Taipei.

The strong quake knocked out power in several parts of Taipei, according to a Reuters witness.

Earthquakes and tsunamis 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 earthquake 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.

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck western Japan on Jan. 1 this year, which resulted in at least 244 confirmed deaths. Five people remain missing.

—With files from the Associated Press and Global News