An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck the southern Japanese island of Okinawa early Saturday, prompting a tsunami warning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, DPA reported.
Two older woman suffered minor injuries on the island, about 1,500 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, local officials said.
The agency said a tsunami wave up to 10 centimetres high washed over the coast after the 5:31 am (2031 GMT Friday) quake.
It had issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas of Okinawa prefecture soon after the tremor and warned residents to move away from the coast, but the warning was downgraded to an advisory around one hour later and then withdrawn.
Police had received a report of ruptured water pipes in cities that included Naha, the capital of Okinawa, but no major damage.
The quake, the strongest to hit off Okinawa since 1909, was centred 10 kilometres underground in waters about 80 kilometres south-east of Naha.
The US Geological Survey measured the latest quake to hit earthquake-prone Japan at a magnitude of 7 and said aftershocks of magnitudes 5.1, 4.9 and 4.8 followed over the next nine hours.
After the initial quake, a 74-year-old woman in Naha was injured when she fell out of bed while a 66-year-old was also hurt when she fell in her house, local authorities said.
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