A 6.9 quake

hit off the east coast of Honshu (Japan's main island) causing a 50cm tsunami to reach a couple of towns along the coast. It happened early in the morning around 6:30am. At the time I was woken by the shaking and it lasted the longest of any quakes I've ever felt before, roughly a minute or so. Actually it could have been 30 seconds, which is still really long in earthquake terms. This is also my first tsunami-inducing quake. No injuries were reported so far.

edit: Another 6.1 hit today (Nov 16 around the same time in the morning). A little strange, two in a row.

U.S. Geological Survey's Preliminary Earthquake Report:

A strong earthquake occurred at 21:38:54 (UTC) on Monday, November 14, 2005. The magnitude 6.9 event has been located OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN. The hypocentral depth was estimated to be 30 km (18 miles).

AP:

A strong earthquake shook northern Japan early Tuesday, triggering a small tsunami that struck coastal towns about 200 miles from the epicenter. There were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9, hit at 6:39 a.m. (4:39 p.m. EST Monday) and was centered off the east coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and Japan's Meteorological Agency.

Tsunami waves of 12 and 19 inches hit the city of Ofunato, and 4- to 12-inch waves generated by the quake struck at least four other towns in the area, the agency said. Tsunami waves are often barely noticeable in the ocean but can rise to greater heights once they reach shore.

Ross Stein, a geophysicist with the USGS in Menlo Park, Calif., said the swell amounted to "a surfable tsunami."