An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale jolted off the east coast of Honshu, Japan at 09:57 a.m. local time (0057 GMT) on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Tsunami warnings or advisories are currently in effect.
The quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometers under the seabed and the epicenter is some 200 kilometers from the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan's meteorological agency said.

The earthquake was clearly felt in Tokyo and many eastern cities and the bullet train service was temporarily halted in northeastern Japan, local media reports said.

There are no immediate reports of injuries and property damage from the quake.

The JMA issued tsunami warnings for the coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures at 10 a.m. A small tsunami of up to 50 centimeters was expected along the affected region, the meteorological agency said.

Tsunami of 10 centimeters was recorded in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, following the quake on Sunday Morning.

No abnormalities were reported by Tokyo Electric Power Co. at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants following the quake, the Kyodo news agency said.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific coastal areas of northeastern and eastern Japan on March 11, triggering enormous tsunami and sparking a nuclear crisis on the island country as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was damaged.

The twin disasters left around 30,000 people dead and missing and destroyed homes and factories in the northeastern parts of Japan.

The quake-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima have been recovering from the devastating disasters. And, the Japanese authorities are still battling to keep a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant triggered by the twin disasters under control.

The U.S. Geological Survey first reported the earthquake at a magnitude of 7.3, and later revised it down to 7.

Xinhua