Strong Quake off Northeastern Japan

Epicenter of earthquake off northeastern Honshu, Japan, on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 (Japan Meteorological Agency)

By Jim Andrews, Senior Meteorologist

Mar 27, 2012; 10:14 AM ET

A strong earthquake of at least 6.0 magnitude has shaken northeastern Japan.
There were no immediate reports of injury or significant damage.
The quake struck near 8 p.m., local time, off Iwake prefecture about 50 miles east of Morioka, or about 315 miles north-northeast of Tokyo, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards website.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) put the magnitude of the temblor at 6.4 at a shallow focal depth of 10 km (about 6 miles).
The quake should have been felt most strongly in Iwate prefecture of northeastern Honshu but may have been perceptible from southern Hokkaido south to Tokyo, the JMA website indicated.
The shaken area was part of the much larger region devastated by a tsunami, following the 9.0 magnitude Tohoku earthquake in March 2011.

Strong Quake off Northeastern Japan