Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake Strikes Southern Japan - USGS

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on Tuesday southeast of the Japanese island of Kyushu, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — According to the USGS, there is no tsunami threat.

The epicenter of the quake was located at sea at the depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the agency.

In turn, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that the tremors were felt across ten prefectures, including Kochi, Miyazaki, Hiroshima, Kagoshima and Okayama.

No information about the damage or casualties was immediately available.

Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries.

In March 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake started a tsunami that killed about 16,000 people in northeastern Japan and caused nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant which resulted in the largest nuclear catastrophe in the world since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.