TOKYO—A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Friday afternoon, unnerving residents in a region hit last year by a devastating quake and nuclear accident.

No deaths were directly caused by the earthquake, but one person was seriously injured and 10 suffered minor injuries, according to the National Police Agency.

The quake at 5:18 p.m. was centered off Miyagi prefecture, the same area as the massive March 11, 2011, 9-magnitude quake that devastated the region and left more than 18,000 dead or missing. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the latest quake could be considered an aftershock of that and was the biggest since July 10 when another 7.3-magnitude struck along the same fault line.

"It brought back the memories of the March earthquake. It felt very long, almost like two minutes," said Emiko Chiba, who runs the Sakari Ryokan inn in Ishinomaki in the prefecture. "The shaking was not as big as last time, but I felt scared."