Tokyo:
Four people were reported dead and more than 100 injured in Japan on Thursday after a powerful overnight earthquake rattled large parts of the east coast and prompted a tsunami warning, authorities said.
The 7.4-magnitude quake off the coast of Fukushima derailed a bullet train, opened cracks in highways and threw products from shelves in shops.
A tsunami warning for waves of up to a metre (three feet) in parts of northeast Japan was lifted in the early hours of Thursday, after authorities recorded water levels up to 30 centimetres higher than usual in some areas.
Multiple smaller jolts continued to hit the region into Thursday morning, straining nerves just days after Japan marked the 11th anniversary of the massive quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in the area.
Damage appeared comparatively minor, in a country with tough building codes intended to protect against devastation from frequent earthquakes, and officials said there were no abnormalities at nuclear plants.
Government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said four deaths had been reported, though investigations were still under way into whether they were a direct result of the quake.
