2 Feb, TOKYO:

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 shook northeastern Japan on Tuesday afternoon, although no tsunami warning was issued.

According to the weather agency, on the Japanese seismic scale that peaks at 7, the temblor measured 4 at 2:32 p.m. in some parts of northern Iwate Prefecture. Local authorities confirmed, however, that no injuries or damage, as yet, have been reported.

According to the JMA, the quake’s epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 20 kilometers off Iwaki, a city located in the southern part of the Hamadori coastal region of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The quake was also felt across Aomori, Miyagi and Akita Prefectures in Japan’s northeast.

No abnormalities have been reported at the stricken Daiichi nuclear power complex in Fukushima Prefecture. An earthquake-triggered tsunami in March 2011, sparked multiple meltdowns at the plant and to date the catastrophe remains the worst commercial nuclear disaster in history. Xinhua