5.3-magnitude quake strikes off Japan's Hokkaido prefecture, no tsunami warning issued

TOKYO - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck off southeast coast of the Nemuro Peninsula in Hokkaido prefecture, northern Japan, at 5:53 pm local time on Tuesday, the weather agency here said.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which measured 4 on the Japanese seismic scale which peaks at 7, struck at a latitude of 43.3 degrees north and a longitude of 145.8 degrees east, and at a depth of 90 km.

The quake registered between 1 and 4 on the seismic scale in northeastern parts of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost prefecture, but the JMA has not issued a tsunami warning or advisory.

No abnormalities at the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in Hokkaido have been reported by its operator Hokkaido Electric Power Company and no injuries, as yet, to persons or property have been reported by local officials.