TOKYO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 struck off Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan on Wednesday, the country's weather agency said.
The temblor occurred at 11:27 p.m. local time off Iwate's eastern coast at a depth of about 30 kilometers, measuring 4 on Japan's seismic scale of 7 in Iwate's Morioka City, said the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The quake's epicenter was located at a latitude of 40.1 degrees north and a longitude of 142.9 degrees east.
No tsunami advisory was issued.
