Tsunami advisory lifted for Japan's Okinawa islands: JMA

TOKYO - Japan's weather agency on Wednesday lifted a tsunami advisory issued for islands of the southern Okinawa prefecture, with the prefecture's main Naha airport resuming operations.

Operations at the Naha airport were resumed after the tsunami advisory was lifted, its operator said. The airport is located on the coast of the main island of the prefecture.

Flights at the airport were suspended earlier following the issuance of a tsunami warning, which affected about 2,630 passengers in total.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) initially projected a tsunami with waves of up to 3 meters in the region but later downgraded the tsunami warning to an advisory.

A 30-centimeter tsunami was observed at the island of Yonaguni at 9:18 am local time, while small waves of 20 centimeters also reached Ishigaki island and Miyakojima island, according to the JMA.

Weather officials still urged people to remain cautious as the tide level could change.

This was the first time the JMA issued a tsunami warning for the coastal areas of Okinawa prefecture since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

The tsunami warning was issued after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted the sea area near Hualien of China's Taiwan earlier in the day.