LOC13:20
10:20 GMT
TOKYO, Nov 14 (KUNA) -- A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter scale struck eastern Japan on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
No immediate reports of casualties and damage. No tsunami warning was issued for the 5:09 p.m. (0809 GMT) quake, it noted.
The focus of the tremor was at a depth of about 350 km off the coast of Mie Prefecture in central Japan, according to the weather agency.
The quake measured 4 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in the eastern prefectures of Fukushima and Ibaraki. The agency defines an intensity of 4 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.
A magnitude 9.0-quake and tsunami hit the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant in 2011, causing explosions, meltdowns and massive leaks of radioactive material as the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.
Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, accounting for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude six or greater. (end)
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