Magnitude-5.7 quake shakes Japan’s Okinawa

TOKYO (AA) – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 shook the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, resulting in an emergency quake alert being issued for its main island Monday.

Local news agency Kyodo reported that no tsunami warning issued. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the temblor hit 113 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of northern Nago city at a depth of 40 km at around 2.19 p.m. (0519GMT).

In April, two powerful earthquakes hit southwest Kumamoto Prefecture, leaving at least 49 people dead.

Japan is one of the world’s most seismically active areas. It accounts for around 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

The country’s coastal areas of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were devastated in the wake of a March 2011 quake. An ensuing massive tsunami killed more than 18,000 people and triggered a nuclear disaster.