An earthquake measuring 8.0 hit the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido early Friday, killing one and injuring at least 278 people. The quake forced thousands to evacuate and prompted authorities to issue tsunami warnings that extend as far as Hawaii.

Workers clear debris at Kushiro Airport terminal on the northern main island of Hokkaido, Japan after it was shaken by powerful earthquakes September 26, 2003. A series of earthquakes jolted Hokkaido early on Friday, injuring more than 230 people, causing widespread damage and blackouts and prompting officials to issue tidal wave warnings. [Reuters]

The quake was the strongest anywhere in the world this year.

Another temblor of similar intensity struck less than two hours later and multiple aftershocks have been felt. Residents on the eastern side of Hokkaido have been urged to evacuate.

Several million people live on the island. An estimated 41,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes and 16,000 residences were blacked out, The Associated Press reported.

MacKinnon said tsunami waves measuring about 3 feet (1 meter) had begun hitting the eastern coast of Japan's northernmost island, and officials warned all residents in the region to seek higher ground.

A fire broke out at oil refinery on the island after the earthquake, and television stations reported a train derailment and a landslide near a highway tunnel.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at 8.0 but authorities in Japan initially gave it a magnitude of 7.8.

The USGS said the temblor was located 33 kilometers (20 miles) under the Earth's crust, about 796 miles north/northwest of Tokyo, and began at 4:50 a.m. local time (1950 GMT).

The second quake occurred at 6:08 a.m. (2108 GMT).

According to the USGS, earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.5 or greater can be recorded by sensitive seismographs around the world.

On average, there is one magnitude-8, or great, quake a year in the world, The Associated Press reported USGS geophysicist Brian Lassige as saying. The amount of energy released in a magnitude-8 earthquake is equivalent to that contained in 1.01 billion tons of TNT, according to the USGS.

A tsunami watch has been issued for the U.S. state of Hawaii.

"Based on all available data, a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter," said the announcement from the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program.

Only six days ago a 5.5-magnitude quake shook Japan.

The September 20 earthquake was centered nearly 870 kilometers (540 miles) south-southeast of Tokyo, near Japan's Bonin Islands, a remote volcanic island group in the Pacific Ocean.

Seven women attending a memorial service at a Tokyo Buddhist temple were slightly injured when one of the temple's walls collapsed on top of them, officials said.

Earlier this month, Japan marked the 80th anniversary of a magnitude 8.3 quake that devastated Tokyo and neighboring Yokohama, killing at least 140,000 people. In January 1995, a magnitude 7.2 temblor in Kobe killed more than 6,000 people.

Also on Friday, a moderate earthquake shook south Chinese island of Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau said, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported.

The 4.9-magnitude quake hit at 7:43 a.m.. Its epicenter was under the Pacific Ocean about 12 miles east of Nanao town, the weather bureau said.

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