A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale struck eastern Japan on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties and damage. No tsunami warning was issued for the 12:16 p.m. (0316 GMT) quake.

The focus of the tremor was off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, about 250 km north of Tokyo, at a depth of about 40 km, according to the weather agency.

The quake measured 4 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in the northeastern prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.

The agency defines an intensity of four as capable of causing dishes and objects in shelves rattle.

The Japanese scale measures how much places were shaken on the surface, while the Richter scale measures the energy of the quake itself.

There were no signs of abnormalities at the crippled Fukushima No.1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants from the quake, its operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, accountin
g for about 20 percent of earthquakes of magnitude six or greater around the globe.

Source: Kuwait News Agency