M5.6 quake hits off Japan’s northeast, no tsunami threat

TOKYO. KAZINFORM - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck off the northeastern Japan prefecture of Iwate late Friday, with no threat of a tsunami and no immediate reports of major property damage, the weather agency and local authorities said, Kyodo reports.

The quake occurred at around 11:25 p.m., 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 kilometers below the seabed. The magnitude of the quake was revised upward later from an initial estimate of 5.5.

In Iwate Prefecture, a temporary blackout hit around 2,200 households after the quake.

On Wednesday, an M7.4 earthquake rocked northeastern Japan around the same time, leaving at least three people dead and more than 180 injured. It caused widespread power outages, transport disruptions and factory suspensions.

The weather agency said early Saturday that the two temblors are likely to be unrelated, but details remain unknown.