Hours after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Japan's Fukushima Prefecture early Tuesday morning, a tsunami of more than 1 meter hit areas previously devastated by a major earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Among the places impacted was the Fukushima's Daiichi nuclear plant, which sits near the coast of Japan. Several hours after the quake, both the Daiichi nuclear plant and Tokai Daini plant are considered safe.
The Daiichi plant was the epicenter of a major environmental disaster following a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, 2011. That earthquake killed at least 15,000.
Parts of Japan's East Coast were under a tsunami warning, as residents were urged to seek higher ground. Local authorities said a tsunami of up to 3 meters was possible. Japan's NHK TV reported that a tsunami was observed roughly one hour after the quake.
The tallest recorded tsunami was in Sendai of 1.4 meters. Sendai was also hard-hit during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Areas near the Daiichi plant had a tsunami of up to 1 meter on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service's Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a tsunami striking the United States coast.
The quake struck at 4 p.m. ET Monday, or 6 a.m. Tuesday local time, and was centered 20 miles east of Namie, Japan. Namie is a city of roughly 20,000.
Tuesday's earthquake was several hundred miles south of the 2011 9.1-magnitude earthquake.
Note: Authorities originally listed the earthquake's strength at 7.3-magnitude. The USGS has since revised its report.
