Small tsunami waves hit Japan after Pacific quake

TOKYO (Reuters) - Small tsunami waves hit northern and eastern Japan on Saturday after a powerful earthquake in the Pacific prompted tsunami warnings in Japan, Russia and Alaska.

Watches were also mounted in Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Hawaii, island territories nervous of a repeat of the disaster two years ago when a quake in the Indian Ocean created giant waves that killed 230,000.

A 40-cm (16-inch) wave was reported at Chichijima in the Ogasawara islands, some 1,200 km (750 miles) south of Tokyo, and several smaller waves on Hokkaido and northern Japan, but there were no reports of injuries and no immediate reports of damage.

Evacuation advisories had been issued for tens of thousands of households in Japan but all warnings were canceled at 10:10 p.m.

The same area was struck by a powerful quake in November, prompting evacuations and tsunami warnings, but then too only small waves reached Japan.

An official in Russia's Emergencies Ministry told Reuters the threat of a tsunami had passed.