Workers have been temporarily evacuated from the Fukushima nuclear plant as a 7.1 magnitude hits Iwaki in the Fukushima prefecture in Japan.
A tsunami alert has been issued after metre high waves hit the coast.
The 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck at a depth of 6.2 miles, and hit 102 miles northeast of Tokyo off the northeastern coast of Japan.
According to local reports the quake caused some buildings to sway in the capital Tokyo.
The news comes as a minutes silence was observed around Japan to mark the passing of a month since a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami devastated the country.
Monday, April 11, 2011 at 08:16:13 UTC Magnitude 7.1 Eastern Honshu
