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Earthquake of magnitude 5.0 hits south Japan, no tsunami warning

Tokyo - There have been no reports so far of major damage or injuries as a result of the inland quake.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 struck Japan's southern Ibaraki Prefecture, the weather agency here said Tuesday.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor's epicenter was located at a latitude of 36.1 degrees north and longitude of 139.9 degrees east and occurred at a depth of 50 km, Xinhua news agency reported. 

The quake, which struck at 8:33 am local time, logged 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale which peaks at 7 in some areas of Ibaraki, as well as in neighboring prefectures of Tochigi, Gumma and Saitama.

The weather agency also said the temblor registered 3 on Japan's seismic scale in Fukushima, Chiba and Tokyo.

There have been no reports so far of major damage or injuries as a result of the inland quake, and no tsunami warning has been issued by the JMA.

Japan's nuclear watchdog has not, thus far, reported any abnormalities at any of its nuclear plants in the affected areas.