Eyewitness account of Japan earthquake from Tokyo

A massive earthquake which measured 8.9 magnitude has hit Japan.

It started off on the north-east coast of the country and has caused a tsunami.

Waves 10 metres high have surged inland sweeping away buildings and cars.

The shock was felt 250 miles away in the capital Tokyo. There have also been several fires there including one at a nearby oil refinery.

Aftershocks

Scott Myers and Megan Scott are on holiday in Tokyo.

They told Newsbeat: "The first we knew about it was when we were on the Tokyo metro.

"The emergency brakes went on to stop the train. You just felt everything shaking really violently, you could see the buildings visibly swaying because of the force of it.

"The electricity went off on the train and we didn't go anywhere for about 20 minutes.

"In that time there was a lot of aftershocks and shaking of the train.

"They had to come and get us from the train using ladders and walk us down the track to get back to the station."

Tsunami waves

Earthquakes are fairly common in Japan.

It's in a part of the world which is called "the ring of fire" because it happens so frequently but this is the strongest one the country's ever had.

Scott Myers and Megan Scott were on Tokyo's metro when the quake hit

"It doesn't seem like this is unusual," Scott said. "Some people are being very calm and seemed very prepared for this.

"There are big screens up in Tokyo and they are showing the tsunami waves hitting other areas.

"In the hotel we're in, we're not allowed to go upstairs. We can't go to our rooms either. They are keeping us on the ground floor.

"The streets are really busy too because everybody's walking home as there's no other way to get there."

'No electricity'

Laura Hewes is 25 and from North Wales and lives in the city of Yamagata with her boyfriend.

That's 60 miles from the epicentre.

In Tokyo passengers had to be escorted off trains and along the tracks

She teaches English and was in work when the earthquake hit.

She said: "We've had a few small ones but this one was a lot bigger and a lot longer.

"Everything on the shelves came off and we all had to evacuate the building.

"It's quite bad on the road, all the traffic lights are down and there are lots of fire engines and ambulances.

"Everywhere is shut and there's no electricity, no gas, no water. Everyone's trying to get home."