tsunami warning philippines and indonesia

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Mar 11, 2011

Tsunami warning issued for Indonesia, Philippines

A screen grab taken from news footage by NHK shows cars on a flooded street following an earthquake-triggered tsumani in Miyagi prefecture. A tsunami warning was issued for Japan, Russia and the Mariana Islands. -- PHOTO: AFP

TOKYO - A TSUNAMI warning was issued for Japan, Russia and the Mariana Islands Friday after a 7.9-magnitude quake struck off Japan, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
'An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicentre within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours,' the centre said in a statement.
It also put the territories of Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Micronesia and Hawaii under a lower tsunami watch.
The Philippine government's seismology agency said warned people living on the east coast to be on alert for the possibility of tsunamis.
'There is no evacuation order but people living along the entire length of the country's east coast should be on alert and await further instructions,' the agency's chief Renato Solidum said in a nationwide radio broadcast.
Indonesia too issued an alert, warning people living on its eastern parts including Papua, Maluku and North Sulawesi to be on guard for tsunamis. -- AFP