A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 hit off the coast of northeastern Japan today, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said, but there were so far no reports of damage from the quake.
A tsunami advisory of up to 50cm (about 20 inches) was issued for northeastern Japan after the quake hit at about 11.45am (0245 GMT), the agency said.
"First I felt a jolt that pushed from underneath, then a big sideways tremor that lasted for about 20 seconds," said Yoshiyuki Sato, an official at Kurihara City in Miyagi prefecture, about 300km northeast of Tokyo.
"The tremor was relatively big but things did not fall off the shelves in the city government building," he said.
The focus of the tremor was 10km below the surface of the earth, off the coast of Aomori prefecture, public broadcaster NHK said.
An official at the National Police Agency said there was no information on damage from the quake so far.
Tohoku Electric Power said its Onagawa nuclear plant was operating normally after the quake. Tokyo Electric Power also said there was no impact on its power plants in the region.
Bullet trains resumed running in northeastern Japan after stopping briefly, Kyodo news agency reported.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
Reuters