Earthquake of 6.3 magnitude strikes western Japan, no tsunami warning

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 struck off Japan's western prefecture Ishikawa on Friday but no tsunami warning was issued after the quake, the authorities said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government had set up a disaster countermeasures office in a crisis management centre headed by the prime minister in response to the earthquake.

"We are checking damages to buildings and people after the earthquake in Ishikawa prefecture," he said, adding that residents should continue to watch out for earthquakes with a seismic intensity at an upper-6 or higher on the Japanese intensity scale which runs to 7.

No abnormalities were reported at the Shika nuclear power plant located in Ishikawa prefecture, as well as at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in neighbouring prefecture of Niigata, Matsuno said.