Quake triggers tsunami alert in Japan and Russia

A POWERFUL undersea earthquake prompted tsunami warnings yesterday for Japan and Russia but the danger appeared to pass after a series of tiny waves hit the northern Japanese coast.

The waves did not swell higher than 16 inches and rapidly diminished in size.

The agency told coast residents to flee to higher ground after predicting that a six-and-half-foot tsunami would hit the Pacific coast of its northernmost island of Hokkaido and main island of Honshu.