The saga of earthquakes hitting the East Asian region continued today with a powerful earthquake measuring 8.8 magnitude on Richter scale hitting off Japan, shaking buildings in Tokyo, early reports said.

By Japanese building norms, this earthquake should not result in massive damage but Japan has issued a serious tsunami warning, expecting waves of 20ft high to hit the Miyagi prefecture.

US Geological Survey said the epicenter was about 250 miles from Tokyo at a depth of 20 miles. They earlier estimated the quake to be of 7.9 in magnitude but later revised it to 8.8 on Richter scale.

The tremors were felt all over Japan including Shizuoka-ken where houses swayed for two to three minutes, while the local TV channels showed fires in some places.

In Yamanashi, people have complained of after-shocks and far away in Hokkaido too houses are still shaking. In a message on Japan Today, one writer identified as #shady86 wrote at 03:25 PM local time, I can' imagine how many lives will be lost today. Cars and building are flowing like boats in Iwate.

Another comment from #SushiSake3 at 03:32 PM JST said, Can't get through to phones in Tokyo either landlines or mobiles.

It was echoed by another comment by reika99 at 03:36 PM JST which said, I'm afraid. let's all pray. hope everyone is okay. theres no time for selfishness. I pray for everyone to be okay.

Japan Japan Earthquake Japan