Tokyo: Tsunamis of up to 40 centimeters were observed in Hachijojima, one of Tokyo’s Izu Islands in the Pacific, at 4:27 a.m. Sunday after a massive earthquake occurred near the Philippines late Saturday night, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

By 9 a.m. Sunday, tsunamis of 20 centimeters were recorded in areas including the city of Tateyama in the eastern prefecture of Chiba, the town of Kushimoto in the western prefecture of Wakayama, the city of Tosashimizu in Kochi Prefecture, also western Japan, and the city of Amami in the island of Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, the agency said.

The city of Numazu in the central prefecture of Shizuoka and the town of Minami in Tokushima Prefecture, western Japan, saw 10-centimeter tsunamis.

The agency issued tsunami advisories shortly after 11:55 p.m. Saturday for Pacific coastal areas spanning from Chiba to Kagoshima prefectures, as well as the Izu Islands and the Ogasawara Islands in Tokyo, and Miyako Island and the Yaeyama region in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

Tsunami advisories were issued for Kagoshima’s Amami Islands, including Amami Oshima, and the Tokara Islands in the prefecture early Sunday.

At a press conference, Toshihiro Shimoyama, senior coordinator for seismological information at the agency, advised people in the areas subject to the advisories to stay away from the coasts.

All tsunami advisories were lifted by 9 a.m. Sunday.

Excluding an earthquake that occurred near Taiwan in September last year, it was the first time for a tsunami advisory related to an overseas quake to have been issued in Japan since a September 2015 powerful quake that struck off Chile. At the time, tsunamis of up to 78 centimeters were observed in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

JIJI Press