Anthony Kuhn

Major General James B. Bartholomew III commands the U.S.

Army's 25th Infantry Division.

China perceives the drills as targeting them and has sent their own naval forces to conduct live fire exercises near the Philippines.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Lawag City, Ilocos Norte Province, Philippines.

The changes were approved by Japan's Cabinet and National Security Council.

They allow the export of lethal weapons only to countries that have agreements with Japan about protecting classified defense technologies and countries that are not involved in active conflicts.

Japan's government can, though, claim exceptions based on national security.

Opponents of the move object to the fact that parliamentary approval is not needed for arms sales, and they say the changes go against Japan's pacifist constitution.

Japan feels both threatened by China, Russia, and North Korea, and pressured by the U.S.

to ramp up defense spending.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

If one of our patients brings in data from the wearable, it expands how much information we can look at.

The quake's magnitude was initially estimated at 7.5.

Its epicenter was off the country's east coast, about six miles below the sea's surface.

The quake was felt in buildings swayed in the capital, Tokyo.

Residents of some coastal areas in the country's northeast were ordered to evacuate to high ground.

Authorities warned of waves up to 10 feet high, but the first to reach shore were about 2.5 feet or less.

Some train services were suspended.

Nuclear power plants were checked, but no abnormalities were found.

The quake struck the same region where a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami killed around 20,000 people and caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in 2011.