Tsunami advisory issued after powerful earthquake hits Japan's northeast region

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 has hit Japan's northeastern region on Friday, prompting a tsunami advisory for waves up to 1 metre (39 inch) high from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The quake struck at 11:44 a.m. (0244 GMT) off the coast of Aomori prefecture with a depth of 20 km (12 miles), after a bigger, 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the same region late on Monday.

After Monday's earthquake, the government issued a special advisory warning residents across a wide area, from Hokkaido in the north to Chiba, east of Tokyo, to be on alert for an increased possibility of a powerful earthquake hitting again within a week.

The tremor on Friday measured 4 on Japan's 1-7 seismic intensity scale.