5.0-magnitude quake hits Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture, no tsunami warning

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 struck off the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture, which borders the Pacific Ocean northeast of Tokyo, but no tsunami warning has been issued, the weather agency said on Friday.

The quake struck at 4:16 p.m. local time, and the temblor, which measured 1 on the Japanese seismic scale which peaks at 7, struck at a latitude of 36.3 degrees north and a longitude of 141.9 degrees east, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

According to the JMA, the quake struck at a "very shallow depth."

The quake also registered 1 on Japan's seismic scale in Fukushima and Chiba prefectures, the JMA said.

No injuries to people or damage to buildings or property have been reported as a result of the earthquake.

There have also been no reports of abnormalities at any of the nation's nuclear power plants, including at the stricken Daiichi facility in Fukushima Prefecture.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)