TOKYO (Jiji Press) - A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 5, the fourth highest on the country's seismic intensity scale, hit eastern Japan on Wednesday, in Shirosato, Ibaraki Prefecture.
The 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck at around 5:40 p.m. (8:40 a.m. GMT), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The agency said that the quake occurred in the southern part of the prefecture, which is located northeast of Tokyo, at a depth of 51 km.
The earthquake did not cause a tsunami, and there were no reports of malfunctions at the nuclear plants in Ibaraki, according to the secretariat of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority.