KEY POINTS:
TOKYO - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 jolted the west coast of central Japan last night (NZ time), Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
It struck at 8.08am (11.08pm NZ time) in the Noto peninsula 300 km west of Tokyo, three days after a powerful earthquake in the same area killed one person, injured over 200 and destroyed hundreds of homes.
No tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of fresh injuries or damage. There have been hundreds of aftershocks since Sunday's quake, which had a magnitude of 6.9.
The focus of today's tremor was 10 km below ground level on the peninsula.
It was moderately strong on the Japanese intensity scale, which measures ground motion, measuring lower 5 on a scale of 7.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring more than 3000.
That was the deadliest quake since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit the city of Kobe in 1995, killing more than 6400.
- REUTERS
