A powerful undersea quake struck off the northeast Japanese coast on Friday, followed by a one-meter high tsunami.

A powerful undersea quake struck off the northeast Japanese coast on Friday, followed by a one-meter high tsunami.

Meteorologists said the wave swept ashore at just after 6 pm (0900 GMT) in Ishinomaki, a city badly hit by the 2011 tsunami that wrecked a large swathe of the northeast coast, killing thousands.

There were no immediate reports of any fatalities after the 7.3-magnitude quake that was followed by a 6.2 aftershock, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Residents of at least one town, Minamisanriku in Miyagi prefecture, were advised to get to safety, with reports suggesting other towns were also affected.

"We are now calling on people to evacuate to higher ground," town official Ryuichi Omori told AFP.
"It's already pitch dark here. Calls phones -- both landlines and mobiles -- are not going through now, which makes it difficult to see people's movement.

"The quake was not so big although it felt very (strong). It was not big at all compared with last year's earthquake. The town office is now setting up a disaster taskforce."