The giant wave hit just after 9am UK time in Ishinomaki, an area devastated by last year's earthquake and ensuing tsunami
A powerful earthquake rocked Japan today, sparking a tsunami warning in the same region that was devastated by huge waves last year.
The quake, in the north eastern Miyagi region, was 7.3 in magnitude and tremors were felt nearly 200 miles away in Tokyo, where buildings shook violently for several minutes, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.
Power supplies were hit, trains were halted and an airport runway shut.
A 3ft tsunami struck the town of Ishinomaki, but there were no casualties.
Resident Chikako Iwai said: “I was in the centre of the city.
"I immediately jumped into the car and started escaping towards the mountains. I’m still hiding inside the car.”
When a tsunami hit the region in March 2011, nearly 19,000 people were killed or listed missing.
It was 9.0 in magnitude and it battered the Fukushima plant in the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
As the latest quake struck, the NHK TV network urged: “Remember last year. Call on your neighbours and flee to higher ground now. Do not go back.”
A tsunami warning from Honshu to Tokyo was cancelled, with only two people hurt.
There were three aftershocks of 6.2, 5.5 and 4.7 magnitude.
English teacher John Heritage told the BBC: “We’re at an evacuation centre waiting to hear what to do next.”