An 8.9-magnitude earthquake rocked northeast Japan on Friday afternoon local time, prompting a tsunami that sent 30-foot waves ashore along the country's northeast coast.

A Bloomberg television report filed about five hours after the earthquake reports that it was one of the most powerful to ever hit Japan. However, it appears to be nowhere near as destructive as the 9.3-magnitude earthquake that shook Indonesia – the second-largest in recorded history – and prompted a tsunami that killed more than 300,000 people in over a dozen countries.

The epicenter of the earthquake today was 80 miles off the coast of Sendai in northeast Japan and it generated tsunami waves up to three miles inland. The tremor was felt in Tokyo as well.