Japan issues evacuation advisory for Okinawa areas after earthquake

(Changes attribution, adds details from 2nd paragraph.) TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japan issued an evacuation advisory for the coastal areas near the southern prefecture of Okinawa after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami warning. The warning came after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 struck in the ocean near Taiwan. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas.

(Changes attribution, adds details from 2nd paragraph.) TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) -

Japan issued an evacuation advisory for the coastal areas near the southern prefecture of Okinawa after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami warning. A tsunami of up to 3 metres was expected to reach Japan's southwestern coast around 10 a.m. (0100 GMT), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The warning came after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 struck in the ocean near Taiwan.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about one-fifth of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami. Those events triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.

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