A strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake has hit eastern Japan, the US Geological Survey says, but local authorities say there is no risk of a tsunami.

The quake struck at 0018 GMT (1018 AEST) at a depth of 404 kilometres, the USGS said.

‘‘The epicentre is in the Pacific, hundreds of kilometres south of Tokyo. We see no risk of a tsunami,’’ a spokesman for the Japanese weather agency said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued. The quake was measured 400 km (250 miles) below the earth's surface about 580 km (360 miles) south of Tokyo, NHK said. Witnesses said it was felt along much of Japan's east coast.



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.



On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami. Those events triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.

Fukushima operator TEPCO reported there were no new problems at the stricken nuclear plant

Reuters