CURRENT UPDATE : 7.3-MAGNITUDE QUAKE ROCKS JAPAN

7.3-MAGNITUDE QUAKE ROCKS JAPAN

An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck on Friday at Japan's east coast, the US Geological Survey said. Japan's emergency agencies declared a tsunami warning for the area.

Japan's Meteorological Agency raised the tsunami warning for the area of Honshu. But the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not post warnings for the rest of the Pacific.

The quake hit at 2:10 a.m. Saturday Tokyo time (1710 GMT), the USGS said. The tremor was felt in Tokyo, some 480 kilometers away. 

All but two of Japan's 50 reactors have been offline since the March 2011 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami triggered multiple meltdowns and massive radiation leaks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, about 250 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. About 19,000 people were killed.