Tokyo, April 09: A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter scale shook northeastern Japan, including Fukushima Prefecture, on Saturday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries caused by the 6:42 p.m. (0942 GMT) quake. No tsunami warning was issued. The focus of the tremor was off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture at a depth of about 50 km, the weather agency said.
The quake registered a lower 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in Osaki City in Miyagi Prefecture, about 340 km north of Tokyo.
The weather agency defines an intensity of lower 5 as strong enough to make hanging objects swing violently and most unstable ornaments fall.
The Japanese scale measures how much places were shaken on the surface while the Richter scale measures the energy of the quake itself.
Northeastern Japan was already severely damaged on March 11 by a magnitude 9.0-quake and tsunami that left about 28,000 people dead or missing.
As of Friday, 67 aftershocks measuring 6 or higher on the Richter scale had been monitored in Japan since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the weather agency said, urging people to continue to be alert against powerful aftershocks.
—_Agencies