10cm tsunami wave laps Japan

A TINY tsunami has hit a small island far south of Tokyo after authorities warned that waves of more than 3 metres could batter Japan's Pacific coast following a huge earthquake in Chile.

Officials have ordered some 245,000 households along Japan's Pacific coast to evacuate after one of the world's most powerful earthquakes in a century battered Chile on Saturday, killing more than 300 people.

A 10 cm tsunami lapped the small island of Minamitori 1950 km south of Tokyo, NHK public TV reported.

Sirens wailed in coastal towns on Japan's main islands and tens of thousands of people were urged to evacuate to higher ground after the Japan Meteorological agency issued the tsunami warning for a wide swathe of Japan's Pacific coast.

It was the first warning for a major tsunami in 17 years and only the fourth since 1952, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

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"Carelessness could be the biggest enemy. In the past, even if the waves were not so big, there has been great
damage with 2-metre high tsunami," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters.

Train services were halted in many areas along the Pacific coast and some highways were closed.

Police cars and fire trucks patrolled coastal roads and fishing boats, seeking to avoid any tsunami, headed out to sea under gray skies, with snow flurries in some areas.

The area that could be hit hardest, where around 140 people died in a previous tsunami 50 years ago, has many small harbours that could concentrate the force of a tsunami.

"The waves could climb up the land, so for real safety you should evacuate to a place several times higher than the predicted height of the waves," JMA official Yasuo Sekita told a news conference.

The agency said the first wave might not be the biggest and that the warning could remain in effect for a long time.

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