A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 jolted northern Japan on Tuesday, some hours after an earlier quake caused evacuation warnings in towns along the coast.
There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries as no tsunami warning was issued.
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK showed live video footage which showed strong shaking in Aomori prefecture, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) north of Tokyo.
The quake was measured at depth of about 50 km (30 miles) on the northeastern coast.
Small waves were reported along the northern coast after an earlier quake forced thousands of residents to evacuate towns closest to the epicenter.
The towns along the northeastern coast of Japan were leveled in March 2011 devastating quake and tsunami.
That disaster struck the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 220 km (130 miles) northeast of Tokyo, sparking triple nuclear meltdowns, forcing more than 160,000 residents to flee nearby towns and contaminating water, food and air.
Tohoku Electric Power Company, which operates the Onagawa and Higashidori nuclear plants in nearby Miyagi and Aomori prefectures, said no abnormalities had been reported at its nuclear plants after Tuesday’s quake.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
