TOKYO — A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 struck central Japan shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, shaking a wide area of the country's main island, Honshu. The agency said there was no threat of a tsunami from the quake.

Source: NHK via EuropeSays

The JMA said the epicentre was in the western part of Shizuoka Prefecture, at a depth of about 41 kilometres (about 25 miles). The quake struck at 1:04 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 8 — 16:04 GMT on Saturday — and was felt across central Japan, including the Nagoya region.

The strongest shaking, an intensity of upper 5 on Japan's seismic scale of zero to seven, was recorded in Chita City in Aichi Prefecture. The agency said it was the first time since March 1997 that jolts of that scale had been observed in Aichi. An intensity of lower 5 was recorded in parts of Aichi, Shizuoka, Gifu and Nagano prefectures.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the quake at magnitude 5.5, at a depth of 38.1 kilometres, about 10 kilometres northwest of Hamakita in Shizuoka, and issued a green alert — its assessment that there is a low likelihood of casualties or damage. The small difference between the two magnitudes reflects the different networks and methods the agencies use.

Source: USGS via Watchers

The Meteorological Agency held a news conference after the earthquake. Agency official Ebita Ayataka said residents in areas hit by strong tremors should pay close attention to future seismic activity and to rain conditions, because the shaking raises the risk of falling rocks and landslides.

No casualties and no major damage had been reported in the initial coverage of the quake, and Chinese state agency Xinhua, reporting the JMA announcement from Tokyo, likewise said there was no tsunami threat. Officials cautioned that the picture could change as local authorities completed their checks.

Source: Xinhua via EIN News

The Shizuoka quake is the second notable earthquake to shake Japan in three days, after a magnitude 6.1 quake off the Kanto coast near Hasaki on Friday. No link between the two events has been established. Read: Magnitude 6.1 earthquake off Japan's Kanto coast

Japan sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', where several tectonic plates meet, and experiences around a fifth of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or stronger. The JMA said it would continue monitoring seismic activity in the region, and urged people in the strongly shaken areas to stay alert for further tremors in the coming days.