An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale has hit off the east coast of Honshu, Japan, the United States Geological Survey says.
The quake occurred at 08:35 a.m. local time on Saturday morning (2335 GMT on Friday), Xinhua reported.
No tsunami warning was issued following the tremor, and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The epicenter of the tremor was at 37.38 degrees north latitude and 141.41 degrees east longitude — about 93 kilometers (57 miles) southeast of Fukushima — and its depth was 37.60 kilometers.
On March 11, Japan was hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, followed by a devastating tsunami that ravaged through the country’s northeastern coast.
The tremor triggered a nuclear crisis by knocking out power to cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the northeast coast.
Japan has not been able to bring the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant under control, since water filling the reactor buildings is hampering restoration work.
The operator of the plant, Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Co., announced on Sunday that it will manage to reduce radiation leaks from the plant within three months and to also cool reactors and control the radiation within six to nine months.
According to the National Police Agency, the number of the dead and missing from Japan’s March 11 quake and tsunami now stands at over 28,000.
Sat May 14, 2011 3:11AM
Source: Press TV