Japan 8.1 earthquake - Tsunami N. BC and Alaska?

Breaking News in Canoe: Ouch ... thats a BIG earthquake ... 8.1

Tsunami watch issued for parts of Alaska and B.C. north coast

VICTORIA (CP) - British Columbia and the U.S. West Coast are expected to be spared the effects of a major earthquake northeast of Tokyo.

The Provincial Emergency Program in Victoria says a tsunami warning is in effect for the Alaska coastal areas from Dutch Harbor to Attu.

However, a tsunami watch is in effect for the B.C. and Alaska coastal areas from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to Dutch Harbor.

The watch does not include other areas of B.C., Washington, Oregon and California.

PEP says it's not known if a tsunami exists.

But it says people living in low-lying coastal areas should be alert for instructions from local emergency officials

Japan issues tsunami warning after massive 8.1 magnitude quake

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning Wednesday and told the country's Pacific coast residents to flee to higher ground after a powerful earthquake hit hundreds of kilometres away.

A tsunami about two metres tall or higher was expected to hit the Pacific coast of Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido and main island of Honshu sometime after 9:10 p.m. (7:10 a.m. EST), the agency said.

By 9:40 p.m., live video from Nemuro, a port on Hokkaido, showed calm seas. There were no immediate reports of any tsunami on the island.

An official from the town of Shibetsu on Hokkaido, Kiyoshi Takimoto, told public broadcaster NHK that about 4,000 of the town's 6,100 residents lived along the coast and had been told to flee to higher ground.

Takimoto said he didn't notice the quake. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, according to NHK.

In the city of Kushiro, fire department and municipal officials were urging residents to move to safety, city official Masatoshi Sato said.

Keiichi Kimura, a Hokkaido Prefectural police officer, said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the quake. Railway officials ordered local trains on Hokkaido to stop at nearby stations as a precautionary step, NHK said.

A tsunami advisory was issued for Hawaii, where the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a destructive wave.

Cindy Preller, an official with the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, said no tsunami was expected to hit the West Coast of North or South America. She said there was a slight chance one could hit the western Aleutian Islands.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 8.1, struck at 6:15 a.m. about 395 kilometres east of the Etorofu Island, about 1,600 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, the Japanese meteorological agency said.

Etorofu is one of four islands claimed by both Japan and Russia. It is known in Russia as Iturup Island.

The islands were occupied by the Soviet Union in the closing days of the Second World War. The island chain is known in Russia as the Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories.

They are surrounded by rich fishing waters and are believed to have promising offshore oil and natural gas reserves. They also have gold and silver deposits. But the population has plummeted to just 9,900, according to official statistics.

A Russian official said a powerful earthquake had struck the Kuril Islands area and there was no immediate word of damage or casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported on its website that a 7.8-magnitude quake had been detected 440 kilometres east-northeast of the Kurils at a depth of 27.7 kilometres. Tremors of magnitude 7.0 are generally classified as major earthquakes, capable of widespread, heavy damage.

A magnitude 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on Dec. 26, 2004 caused a tsunami that killed at least 213,000 people in 11 countries. Those waves reached as high as 10 metres.

Tsunami waves, which are generated by earthquakes, are often barely noticeable in the ocean but can rise to great heights once they reach shallow waters near the shore.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because it sits atop four tectonic plates.