Earthquake

A major earthquake of level 7.6 struck in the Indian Ocean off India's Andaman Islands early on today, but a tsunami alert for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh was shortly cancelled.

Three hours after the earthquake there were no reports of a tsunami, officials said. The US Geological Survey said the quake, originally reported as a magnitude 7.7, struck. It was comparatively superficial, at a depth of 33km and was centered 260km north of Port Blair.

The Atmospheric administration Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said at hand could be a serious wave along coasts up to 1,000km from the epicenters, but later the warning got back by them.

A 7.6 magnitude quake is as major quake and it spread high damage. An enormous quake in the Indian Ocean in 2004 caused a tsunami that killed some 228,000 people. Elsewhere, a strapping earthquake jolt Tokyo and nearby areas early this morning, troublemaking transport and closing a nuclear power plant for protection checks.

The scale level 6.5 quake centered around 150km southwest of Tokyo spoiled the main motorway south from the capital and prompted a brief deferment of high-speed train services, but there were no reports of major losses.

The Tomei Motorway that runs between Tokyo and Nagoya were closed by an earthquake and the weather conditions agency warned that heavy rain since yesterday meant auxiliary slips were feasible. Those storms have killed at least 13 people in Japan, with a further 15 missing.