Japan's remote Izu islands hit by small tsunami after magnitude 5.9 earthquake

TOKYO — Japan's remote Izu islands south of Tokyo were hit by a small tsunami on Tuesday with no immediate reports of damage, after a magnitude-5.9 earthquake occurred near an unpopulated island farther south in the Pacific Ocean.

A tsunami of 50 cm (1.6 ft) reached Hachijo island, one of the Izu islands, about 40 minutes after the earthquake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

No damage from the tsunami or the earthquake has been confirmed, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The meteorological agency previously said residents of Izu and Ogasawara islands must be prepared for a tsunami as high as 1 m (3.3 ft) hitting the coast.

No major tremor was observed since the earthquake occurred undersea near the unpopulated Torishima island about 600 km (370 miles) south of Tokyo, the agency added.

The Izu islands, along with the even more remote Ogasawara islands farther south, have about a dozen inhabited islands and a combined population of about 24,000 as of last year, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which covers the regions. —Kaori Kaneko and Kantaro Komiya/Reuters