5.2-magnitude quake strikes off Japan's Wakayama Prefecture, no tsunami warning issued

TOKYO– An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 struck off the Kii Peninsula close to Wakayama Prefecture in Japan's southwest, the weather agency here said Wednesday. 

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which occurred at 1:53 p.m. local time, was centered in the Kii Channel which separates the Japanese island of Shikoku from the Kii Peninsula on the main island of Honshu.The JMA did not issue a tsunami warning or advisory as a result of the quake. 

The quake's epicenter was located at a latitude of 33.8 degrees north and longitude of 134.9 degrees east and occurred at a depth of 50 km, the JMA said.The earthquake logged lower 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale which 
peaks at 7 in some areas of Wakayama Prefecture, the JMA said.In the nearby areas of Tokushima, the quake also registered 4 on Japan's seismic scale, and 3 in the surrounding prefectures of Shiga, Osaka, Hyogo and Nara, the weather agency said. 

There has been no immediate reports of major damage or injuries as a result of the offshore quake.Japan's nuclear watchdog has not, as yet, issued any warning about irregularities or abnormalities at Kansai Electric's Mihama, Oi, or Takahama nuclear power plants in the Kansai region. Enditem 
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