Strong Quake Hits Eastern Japan

Tokyo, Nov. 9 (Jiji Press)--A powerful earthquake hit eastern Japan on Wednesday, measuring upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the country's seismic intensity scale, in Shirosato, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The temblor with an estimated magnitude of 4.9 struck around 5:40 p.m. (8:40 a.m. GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

It occurred in the southern part of the prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, at a depth of 51 kilometers, the agency said.

The quake did not trigger tsunami. There have been no reports of abnormality at nuclear plants in Ibaraki, according to the secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

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