A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck western Japan, shaking the southwestern islands of Kyushu and Shikoku on Thursday. Authorities have issued a tsunami warning for several regions and are closely monitoring the situation, as reported by public broadcaster NHK.

Earlier, NHK reported that the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.9.

A tsunami advisory has been issued for Miyazaki, Kochi, Oita, Kagoshima and Ehime prefectures. In Miyazaki prefecture on Kyushu, 20-centimetre high waves had already been observed, reported news agency Reuters, while citing NHK.

Source: India Today