Japan's meteorological agency reported that a powerful earthquake struck the area near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and issued a tsunami warning for Japan.

What is known about the earthquake?

The agency said the quake struck at 8:25 a.m. local time, had a preliminary magnitude of 8.7, and was about 250 kilometers (155 miles) off Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four major islands. It was only lightly felt, according to Japanese television NHK.

No damage has been reported so far.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the quake struck at a depth of 19.3 kilometers. There was no immediate information from Russia on how Kamchatka was affected.

Authorities activate tsunami warning

Following the earthquake, Japanese meteorological authorities decided to activate a tsunami warning for the Pacific coast, estimating that it could reach up to one meter in the southern area of Hokkaido, the northernmost island of the territory and located southwest of the epicenter of the earthquake, as well as areas in the northeast, east, center and southwest of the Japanese archipelago.

Tsunamis of up to 20 centimetres are also expected on Shikoku Island in the west of the country and the islands that make up the Okinawa archipelago in the southwest, as well as other subtle variations in sea level on other coasts.

Despite its large magnitude, the earthquake was barely felt in Japan, reaching level two on Japan's seven-step seismic scale (which measures surface shaking and the potential destruction of a quake) in the southeastern cities of Kushiro, Akkeshi, Shibetsu and Betsukai.

Shinichi Sakai, a seismologist at the University of Tokyo, told NHK that a distant earthquake could cause a tsunami that hits Japan if its epicenter is shallow.

one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.