M6.0 quake hits Noto Peninsula in central Japan, no tsunami threat

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 hit the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan on Monday, the same area that was severely damaged by a powerful quake on New Year's Day, with no tsunami warning issued, Japan's weather agency said, Kyodo reports. 

The 6:31 a.m. quake occurred at a depth of around 10 kilometers and registered an upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in the cities of Wajima and Suzu, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The magnitude was revised to 6.0 from 5.9.

Another quake with a magnitude of 4.8 struck off the Noto area at 6:40 a.m., measuring 4 in Suzu.

Five houses collapsed in Wajima, one of the worst-affected cities in the wake of the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck the area on the first day of the year, according to the Ishikawa prefectural government. The Jan. 1 temblor killed 260 people, with more than 3,000 still living in evacuation shelters.

The agency said the latest seismic activity is linked to the quake that occurred on Jan. 1. It warned that earthquakes with a seismic intensity of around an upper 5 could happen for about a week.

No tsunami warning was issued, but a slight change in sea levels was detected near cities including Suzu, the agency said.

A woman in her 60s in the Ishikawa town of Tsubata fell from her bed after she was startled by an earthquake alert, breaking her right leg, while a man in his 20s in the city of Namerikawa in neighboring Toyama Prefecture fell while trying to evacuate to safety, sustaining injuries to his head and hips, according to local government and firefighters.

Hokuriku Electric Power Co. and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said no abnormalities were detected at the Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa nor were any problems reported at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in nearby Niigata Prefecture.

According to East Japan Railway Co., services of the Joetsu and Hokuriku shinkansen bullet trains were temporarily suspended after the quake.