Japan has been put on tsunami alert after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
The quake, registered as a major one on the Richter scale, struck off the country’s far south-west coast just before 6am local time.
It hit at a depth of about six miles, around 100 miles south west of the town of Makurazaki, says Japan’s Meteorological Agency.
The affected area is 860 miles away from the capital Tokyo.
Now the country faces the terrifying wait for the aftermath of the quake.