Japan was hit Thursday by a strong earthquake, triggering a tsunami alert. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude 7.1 earthquake jolted southwestern Miyazaki province. Earlier, the USGS had said the magnitude was 6.9 but later revised it to 7.1. Local authorities issued a tsunami advisory for Kochi, Miyazaki, Ehime, Oita and Kagoshima provinces. However, later Japan's Meteorological Agency lifted tsunami advisory for four provinces while advisory is still in place for Miyazaki, public broadcaster NHK said.
