6.8 magnitude Quake in East Japan Tiggers a Minor Tsunami

An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 occurred on Saturday off the eastern coast of Japan, triggering a small tsunami with waves up to 20 inches, but no damage on the northeast coast of the country will be reported, local meteorological agency said.

Northeastern Japan was devastated by a catastrophic tsunami in March 2011.

No irregularities were reported at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was severely damaged by the disaster of 2011, which caused the worst nuclear accident in the world since the Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine in 1986.

The earthquake reached category 4 on the Japanese seismic scale of 1-7, which means that there is little chance that generated serious damage.

A small tsunami with waves up to 20 inches was recorded in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, and in other towns in the northeastern Japanese coast, Japan's meteorological agency said.

Authorities issued evacuation orders for various coastal towns in the area, but the move was canceled soon after, along with the tsunami warning, according to the agency.

An official of the meteorological agency said in a news conference Saturday that the quake appeared to be a replica of the powerful earthquake registered magnitude 9, 2011.

(Reporting by Sonya Hepinstall. Editing by Jon Boyle Spanish)