Earthquake measuring 6.7 hits Japan

A magnitude-6.7 earthquake shook northeast Japan on Thursday morning, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The quake struck around 2151 GMT off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, around 500 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The temblor registered a lower 5 on the Japanese intensity scale in parts of Iwate and Aomori prefectures, and 3 in parts of Fukushima Prefecture, where the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex is located.

A 50-centimeter tsunami warning issued for Iwate Prefecture was later lifted.

The operator of the Daiichi plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said it had received no report of any damage at its nuclear reactors following the earthquake.

Nor had there been reports of problems or major changes in radiation levels at the Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture or at the Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. Both plants have been offline since the March 11 earthquake.

The agency also said no problems had been reported at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant in Aomori Prefecture.

The epicenter of the quake was at a depth of around 20 kilometers, around 50 kilometers off the coast of the city of Miyako in Iwate Prefecture, one of the areas struck by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. As measured on the Japanese intensity scale, the quake was the strongest since a strong 5 temblor that struck in Niigata Prefecture, around 300 kilometers north of Tokyo, on June 2.

WSJ