5.6-magnitude earthquake hits northeastern Japan, no tsunami threat

An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 jolted northeastern Japan prefecture of Iwate late Friday, however, there is no threat of a tsunami.

The weather agency and local authorities also informed that there were no immediate reports of major property damage, reported Kyodo News.

The quake occurred at around 11.25pm, logging upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Noda in the prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The agency said the temblor occurred in waters off the prefecture’s northern coast at a depth of 18 kilometres below the seabed. The magnitude of the quake was revised upward later from an initial estimate of 5.5, reported Kyodo News.

It caused widespread power outages, transport disruptions and factory suspensions. It remains unclear whether the two temblors have any connection, reported Kyodo News.