No tsunami warning issued after strong earthquake hits Japan

No tsunami warning was issued after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake shook northern Japan this afternoon.

The earthquake struck at about 5:25 p.m. Hawaii time, 12:30 p.m. Thursday in Japan, about 32 miles southeast of Shizunai, Japan and 466 miles north-northeast of Tokyo at a depth of about 32 miles.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said based on all available data, a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or damage.

The lunchtime quake caught many residents by surprise.

“It was pretty strong. It went on about 40 seconds,” said Haru Matsutakeya, 45-year-old resident in Hokkaido’s capital of Sapporo, about 100 miles northwest of the epicenter. Just before the quake struck, an alarm on her cellphone and of several others around her sounded at a center for disabled people where she works. Matsutakeya rushed to turn off a kerosene stove in the room and stood by silently.

Hiroyuki Kenai, a disaster prevention official at the Urakawa town was having lunch in his office when the quake hit. He told Japan’s NHK national television in a telephone interview that officials were still assessing whether there was any damage.

Two nuclear power plants and the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in the quake-hit region were not affected, nuclear safety officials said.

Tohoku “bullet train” service south of the region was temporarily suspended but has since resumed, according to NHK. Some local train lines in Hokkaido were suspended for safety checks, though there were no immediate reports of damage.