A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Japan's Honshu island on Sunday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, with its focus about 58 kilometres southeast of the city of Shima at a depth of 352.4 kilometres, Qatar News Agency reported. The quake struck at 22:15 UTC on Saturday, which was Sunday morning in Japan.

Source: QNA via Fana News

There were no immediate reports of casualties or material damage, and no tsunami warnings were issued. Because the earthquake began hundreds of kilometres below the surface, its energy spread widely but weakened before reaching the ground: the USGS ShakeMap put the strongest expected shaking at weak (level III), and its PAGER system issued a green alert, meaning little impact was expected.

Source: USGS via Terremoto

USGS modelling estimated that about 1.4 million people may have felt shaking of level II or higher. Japan's meteorological agency recorded a level three tremor on its seven-point seismic scale in parts of Fukushima Prefecture, according to reports, but no major damage was confirmed.

Deep earthquakes like this one are felt over a wide area but rarely cause destruction, unlike shallow quakes near the surface. Japan sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' and has strict building codes shaped by past disasters; a shallower quake of the same size near a city would be a very different event. Authorities reported no aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or more in the first hours.