Japan's Meteorological Agency raised a 1-meter (3-foot) tsunami warning for a long stretch of Japan's northeastern coast, including Fukushima

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An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 has struck off the coast of Japan prompting emergency services to issue a tsunami advisory for the Fukushima area.

Japan's Meteorological Agency raised a 1-meter (3-foot) tsunami warning for a long stretch of Japan's northeastern coast, including Fukushima. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not post warnings for the rest of the Pacific.

There were no initial reports of damage on land, although the AFP agency cited reports saying that workers had been evacuated from the stricken nuclear power plant.

The quake hit at 2:10 a.m. Saturday Tokyo time (1710 GMT) about 290 kilometers (170 miles) off Fukushima. Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima plant, ordered workers near the coast to move to higher ground.

The tremor was felt in Tokyo, some 300 miles (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 (160 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

About 19,000 people were killed.