The factory, which employs around 1,000 workers, was able to move everyone to the second floor before the wave hit, said George Boyd, a Sony representative in Tokyo. The bottom floor was inundated.

Workers were forced to spend the night at the factory on Friday. Many of those workers were evacuated Saturday, but about 400 remain on site, he said. No fatalities have been reported so far.

In all, Sony has shut six factories due to the earthquake for reasons ranging from the tsunami to power outages.

Sony "has not suffered major damage except for that (Miyagi) factory," Boyd said, though he added that it's hard to judge the overall impact of the earthquake so soon.

The other five factories, which include battery suppliers, chemical works and a chip factory, should be able to resume normal operation after power outages subside, he said.