An 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the world’s strongest in more than six years, hit the coast of Japan on Friday morning, causing a tsunami as high as 10 meters that flooded towns north of Tokyo, according to Bloomberg. This was the biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years. Tsunami warnings have been issued for the entire Pacific area, including East Asia and South America. At least 288 people were killed and over 88,000 are missing or injured across northern Japan, according to international newswires.

The disaster has affected the yen and the stock market. The Nikkei 225 (NKY) average fell after the quake and closed 1.7 percent down, according to Bloomberg. Japanese government bonds rose sending the yield on the 10-year security down 2.5 basis points to 1.27 percent. The Tokyo market had already been suffering amid the turmoil in the Middle East, and closed at its lowest level in five weeks, according to BBC.

Read more news about the earthquake in Japan:

Earthquake Strikes North Japan; Tsunami Destroys Buildings

E. Asia, S. America under tsunami warning after Japan quake

Huge tsunami slams Japan, at least 5 dead

Japan earthquake causes fall in yen and stocks

editor@romania-insider.com