A 6.8-magnitude earthquake, on Tuesday, 12 May, 2015, struck off the coast of north-eastern Japan said the US Geological Survey, but authorities have not issued a tsunami warning and there were no immediate reports of damage.
The quake struck at 6:12am (21:12 GMT Tuesday) off the east coast of Japan’s Honshu island in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 38.9km, according to USGS.
The Japanese meteorological agency said there was no immediate tsunami threat from the earthquake, which hit 33km southeast of the nearest city of Ofunato.
Large areas jolted by the latest tremor were among those already damaged by the 2011 quake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people and triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant.
The earthquake did not damage any of the nuclear reactors in the region, including those at the crippled Fukushima facility, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said.
All of Japan’s reactors have been off-line since the Fukushima disaster.
Train services in the region, including “Shinkansen” bullet train operations, were temporarily suspended following the quake, officials said.
