MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The quake hit at around 00:14 GMT on Friday, about 149 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of the city of Katsuura in the southern Chiba Prefecture.
The epicenter was located at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, minor tremors were felt in nine different prefectures.
In April, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck to the east of Kumamoto city (the capital of Kumamoto Prefecture) on Japan’s Kyushu Island. It was followed by multiple aftershocks, including a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Over 40 people were killed as a result of the natural disaster and more than 2,000 people were injured.
Japan is a seismically active region. In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude offshore earthquake triggered a 46-foot tsunami that hit Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, leading to the leakage of radioactive materials and the shutdown of the plant. The accident is considered to be the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
