A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Fukushima area of Japan Saturday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported to Fox News.
The quake, whose epicenter was located 295 miles northeast of Tokyo and 231 miles east of Japan's Honshu Island, occurred at about 2:10 a.m. near the site of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. Citizens as far as 300 miles away reported feeling tremors.
Emergency agencies in Japan released a tsunami warning for the immediate area of Fukushima. Japan's Meteorological Agency declared a tsunami warning for the area of Honshu, but Fox reported that the United States Pacific Tsunami Warning Center didn't announce warnings for other areas of the Pacific.
Honshu residents have been urged to move away from coastal regions for higher ground, or tsunami evacuation sites.
"Marine threat is in place," the agency posted, as reported by USA Today. "Get out of the water and leave the coast immediately."
Fisherman, fish farming businesses and boats could be washed away by the high winds and heavy rains that will surely come with the imminent tsunami.
A spokesperson from Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant in Fukushima, said some of the workers were making plans to move to higher ground, and that there was no damage or change in readings at radiation monitoring areas at the plant.
Reuters reported seeing ships leaving a port south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.
The region of Fukushima has been rocked by both natural and man-made disaster in the recent past-all except two of Japan's 50 reactors have been shut down since a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011. The subsequent tsunami led to huge radiation leaks at the nuclear power plant.
