Japan issues tsunami warning

The country's meteorological agency issues the warning following a 8.3 magnitude earthquake in the north.

An earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale struck northern Japan and the country's meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning on Saturday.

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The warning was issued for the eastern part of Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido and a lesser warning for a wide area of northeastern and eastern Honshu, NHK public television said.

The agency said that waves as high as one metre could hit the northeastern coast of Hokkaido at around 2 pm (0500 GMT).

Reports said that Japan's Pacific coast issued evacuation orders to flee to higher ground along the coastal area in the region.