7.3 earthquake

Magnitude 7.3 earthquake strikes Kermadec Islands region

The quake was at a depth of 10 kms (6.21 miles). It was followed by a magnitude 5.4 aftershock 20 minutes later. 

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said there is a tsunami threat following the initial earthquake.

New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it's assessing whether there is a tsunami risk but urged anyone near the coast who felt "a long or strong quake" to get to the nearest high ground immediately. 

Earthquake jolts Japan's northeast coast

There were some reports of fire, the government said, and a number of people sustained injuries, but none of those immediately appeared serious. Public broadcaster NHK said one person had died.

The quake on Wednesday was felt in Tokyo, some 275km away, where the shaking of buildings was long and pronounced. Hundreds of thousands of homes in the capital were plunged into darkness for an hour or more, although power was fully restored by the early hours of Thursday morning.

Powerful earthquake rocks Japan weeks from disaster anniversary

The 7.3-magnitude quake was felt strongly in Tokyo, but a tsunami warning has not been issued.

There are reports of about 50 people injured, officials say, and almost one million homes are without power.

The quake struck near the epicentre of a 2011 earthquake which triggered a tsunami and killed over 18,000 people.

That tsunami caused a nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant - the world's most severe nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Quake causes panic in eastern Indonesia

The quake occurred at a depth of 10km in an area 168km south-southeast of the city of Ternate, the USGS said.

Indonesia's meteorology agency (BMKG) recorded the quake at 7.2 magnitude and was not in danger of causing a tsunami.

The country's disaster mitigation agency said on Twitter a woman in South Halmahera died due to the quake, without giving further details.

Within less than four hours since the main quake, the disaster agency recorded at least 30 aftershocks, it added.