Powerful earthquakes hit Japan

MOSCOW. March 11. KAZINFORM Japan was hit by a series of powerful quakes on Friday, with two major quakes measuring 8.8 and 7.1 on the Richter scale. Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The first 8.8-magnitude quake struck off the country's largest Honshu Island's eastern coast, 373 kilometers to the north-east of Tokyo. The second major tremor, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, occurred 505 kilometers to the north-east of Tokyo.

A 10-meter tsunami subsequently hit the Miyagi prefecture on Honshu, local television reported. Honsu's Iwate prefecture was reported to have been hit by a 4.2-meter tsunami. Dozens of cars fell into the sea when a highway in Iwate was partly destroyed by the quake, Japan's NHK TV channel reported.

There have been no reports on casualty figures.

Tremor from the first quake can still be felt in Tokyo, a RIA Novosti correspondent said. A tsunami warning has also been issued for another Honshu prefecture, Fukushima. Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version