Earthquake Measuring 8.1 Hits Japan

An 8.1 quake was recorded in the Kurile islands on Wednesday, and a tsunami warning issued for eastern Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, NHK public television said.

The first waves of the tsunami, which was expected to arrive shortly after 9 p.m. local, were predicted to range from 1 to 2 meters in Hokkaido. The site of the quake was roughly 1,700 km northeast of Tokyo. Hokkaido residents reported feeling little to no shaking from the earthquake.

The Kuriles are known as the Chishima islands in Japan. The Southern Kuriles, known to Japanese as the Northern Territories, are the subject of a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia.