Eastern Japan rocked by strong earthquake, no tsunami warning

A STRONG earthquake has hit eastern Japan according to the US Geological Survey.

The tremor is currently being reported as measuring between 5.9 and 6.3 on the Richter Scale, and occurred in Ibaraki Prefecture near Honshu, the country’s largest and most populated island, meaning cities including Tokyo may have been affected.

No tsunami warning has been issued at present, and there are no immediate reports of damages or injuries, with the depth of the quake around 10km, according to the Japanese Meteorological Agency.

Japan suffers regular earthquakes due to its position at the collision point of four tectonic, but damage is usually minimised due to building regulations and other protective measures.

A magnitude 9 quake did hit the country in 2011, provoking a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people and caused one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters after three of the Fukushima power station’s reactors went into meltdown after the cooling function failed.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that no nuclear facilities had reported any problems following this latest event, with no power outages thus far.