Powerful earthquake hits Japan; tsunami advisory issued

TOKYO — Japan issued a tsunami advisory Thursday after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern island of Kyushu.

The temblor occurred off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture at 4:42 p.m. local time (3:42 a.m. ET), at a depth of about 18 miles, according to Japan’s meteorological agency.

Japanese officials issued a tsunami advisory and warned residents to immediately leave coastal areas of Kochi and Miyazaki prefectures until it had been lifted. Advisories are issued when the waves are not expected to exceed 1 meter (3.3 feet).

Japanese broadcaster NHK, citing the local police chief, said it was checking if there had been any structural damage to buildings but that there appeared to be none so far. It said Miyazaki Port had reported a surge of 20 inches, the largest so far.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

Arata Yamamoto reported from Tokyo, and Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com