A VOLCANO near Tokyo erupted yesterday, shooting up billowing smoke and showering parts of the capital with a fine ash that some residents mistook for snow.

A volcano erupted near Tokyo early today, spewing a plume of smoke more than a mile high and raining ash down on parts of the city. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

A huge 8.3 magnitude earthquake off Japan’s northern coast sparked a tsunami warning today, sending thousands along the archipelago’s eastern coast fleeing to higher ground.

Japan issued a tsunami alert today and told Pacific coast residents to flee to higher ground after a powerful earthquake hit off sparsely populated islands between northern Japan and the Russian Far East.

Residents along Japan’s Pacific coast were told to flee an impending tsunami after a powerful earthquake with preliminary magnitude 8.1 hit the Kuril islands north of Japan today.

Rumours of another killer wave sparked mass panic today in the town hardest hit by the Indonesian tsunami, while the death toll rose to 531, with more than 270 missing.

Tearful parents searched today for missing children and soldiers dug through the debris of homes flattened by the second tsunami to hit Indonesia in as many years.

Tearful parents searched today for missing children and soldiers dug through the debris of homes flattened by the second tsunami to hit Indonesia in as many years.

A two-metre-high tsunami crashed into beach resorts and fishing villages on Indonesia’s Java island today, killing at least 86 people, leaving scores more missing and sending thousands fleeing to higher ground, witnesses, officials, and media reports said.

A two-metre tsunami has damaged homes and an hotel on Java island, witnesses have told a local radio station.

A major earthquake hit a distant, sparsely-populated region of Russia’s Far East early today, causing unknown damage and casualties.