M5.6 quake jolts Japan's Ibaraki Pref., no tsunami warning issued

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 jolted Ibaraki Prefecture, located in the Kanto region on the main island of Honshu, bordering the Pacific Ocean, the Japan meteorological Agency (JAM) said on Monday evening.

According to the agency, the quake struck at 9:23 p.m. local time at a latitude of 36.0 degrees north and longitude of 139.9 degrees east. The agency measured the depth of the temblor at 40 km and said on the Japanese seismic intensity scale which peaks at 7, the quake measured lower 5.

In addition, the weather agency said no tsunami warning had been issued, but warned of possible aftershocks.

The epicenter of the quake was located around 120 kilometers from Tokyo, and the quake could be felt throughout wide regions of Japan's eastern seaboard, with the commercial district of Shibuya in central Tokyo feeling the jolt and people on the streets of Tokyo's residential Setagaya-ku pausing as the pavement wobbled and building creaked and swayed.

As of 9:45 p.m, however, there had been no reports of injury as a result of the quake.