M6.6 quake hits central Japan, no tsunami warning issued

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck Ishikawa and other central Japan prefectures Tuesday, the weather agency said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The 10:47 p.m. quake measured a lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Wajima and Shika, both in the Noto Peninsula, a region in Ishikawa Prefecture where recovery efforts have been continuing following a devastating earthquake on New Year's Day, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The agency initially said the magnitude was 6.4, but later revised it upward. It also corrected the estimated depth of the focus off the western coast of the prefecture to 7 kilometers from the earlier released 10 km.

The prefectural government said a woman in her 70s in Tsubata was injured in the quake.

In the city of Suzu on the peninsula, Keiko Sakamoto, the 72-year-old operator of a local izakaya Japanese-style dining bar, said the jolting made her worried about a possible collapse of an old house nearby that was heavily damaged in the New Year quake and is set to be demolished. Tuesday's quake measured 4 on Japan's intensity scale in Suzu.

Bullet trains were suspended between Toyama and Kanazawa on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line due to the quake, JR West said.

No abnormalities were reported at the Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa, according to Hokuriku Electric Power Co.

During the quake, shaking with a seismic intensity of 1 or higher was observed across a wide area from northeastern to western Japan, the meteorological agency said.

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