A 30-centimetre high tsunami has hit the northeastern coast of Japan this Friday.

Although it is much smaller than the wave that hit in 2011, cooling systems at the beleaguered Fukushima nuclear plant have been destroyed and thousands of people have been forced to flee.

The tidal wave was triggered after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s east coast. The tremor was felt 480 kilometres away in Tokyo. There are no immediate reports of damage on land.