M6.8 quake jolts Tohoku

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 jolted the Tohoku region Friday afternoon, but caused no abnormalities at the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the Meteorological Agency and Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

The 2:36 p.m. quake measured lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7 in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, and it also rattled wide areas in Japan from Hokkaido to the Kinki region near Osaka.

The agency temporarily issued a tsunami warning to Miyagi and Fukushima, but no tidal waves were observed. The warning was lifted about 40 minutes later.

Along with the Fukushima plant, the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi operated by Tohoku Electric Power Co. and Tepco's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture were operating normally after the quake.

East Japan Railway Co. said it suspended some services on the Tohoku, Yamagata and Joetsu shinkansen lines for up to two hours to confirm their safety, while East Nippon Expressway Co. also closed the Joban, Banetsu and Sanriku expressways.

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Earthquake jolts northeastern Japan (AP)

NEW YORK – The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a strong earthquake has shaken northeastern Japan, the same region devastated by the massive quake and tsunami in March.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and no tsunami warning was issued.

The U.S.G.S. reports a magnitude of 5.9 quake struck at 3:23 a.m. Friday local time off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture. The epicenter was about 11 miles (18 kilometers) east-southeast of Iwaki on Honshu Island, 114 miles (184 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.

About 23,000 people died or disappeared across Japan's northeast coastline after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Another 80,000 were forced to evacuate because of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant's radiation threat.

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