Washington/Tokyo  - Two powerful earthquakes, which took place within a 10-minute span, rattled parts of Japan early Tuesday and struck in the Indian Ocean, prompting a tsunami warning for countries in South and Southeast Asia.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean hit first at 1956 GMT Monday, centred about 262 kilometres north of India's Andaman Islands, the US Geological Survey (USGS) in Denver, Colorado, reported. It struck in the early Tuesday morning hours local time and was 30 kilometres below the earth's surface.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii issued a tsunami watch for Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand, saying the earthquake was strong enough to produce a tsunami along coastlines within 1,000 kilometres of its epicentre.

However, it cancelled the warning a few hours later "as sea levels indicated that a significant tsunami was not generated."

A second earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.6, struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan. The quake took place at 2007 GMT, about 170 kilometres southwest of Tokyo, the USGS said. No tsunami watch was issued.

The quake was felt in Japan's central province of Shizuoka, and the epicentre was about 20 kilometres below the seabed. At least 43 people were injured and the quake rattled buildings in Tokyo, broadcaster NHK TV reported.

Bullet train services between Tokyo and Osaka were stopped to check for any damages, but later resumed.

Two nuclear reactors in Omaezaki City shut down automatically after the quake, and the Chubu Electric Power Co was checking for any damage, Bloomberg news reported.

On Sunday, a 6.9-magnitude quake shook Tokyo and surrounding areas.

In December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake at sea generated a deadly tsunami that hit the shores along the Indian Ocean, leaving 230,000 people, mostly in Indonesia, dead. (dpa)