Japan on alert as tsunami advisories remain in place after M8.8 quake
Residents and visitors in Japan were advised to remain on alert Thursday after tsunami waves triggered by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula reached the Pacific coast the previous day, Kyodo reports.
While all warnings were downgraded to advisories on Wednesday night, they remained in place for many areas, with the Japan Meteorological Agency assessing whether to lift them. At over 10 locations, tsunami waves as large as 70 centimeters were observed on Thursday.
JR Hokkaido, covering parts of Japan's northern main island, suspended services from the first train on some sections, while some residents were forced to spend the night at evacuation centers.
Kayoko Nakajima, 76, was one of around a dozen people who sought refuge at a municipal office in Kushiro, Hokkaido. "I have never experienced being evacuated for such a long time," she said.
After the quake hit on Wednesday morning, tsunami warnings were issued for coastal areas from Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido to Wakayama Prefecture in the west.
Up to 2 million people were ordered to evacuate or immediately find a safe location, a task made more difficult as the country swelters under high summer temperatures.
Earlier it reported that magnitude of the earthquake in Kamchatka, in Russia's Far East, according to various estimates, reached 8.7, which makes it the strongest earthquake since 1952.
