An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 shook Oita Prefecture and surrounding areas in southwestern Japan late Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
The 11:27 p.m. temblor originated around 40 kilometers underground in Bungo Channel running between Kyushu and Shikoku islands. It registered upper 5 in part of Oita on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7, and 4 in other parts of Oita and some areas in Kumamoto and Miyazaki prefectures.
There are no abnormalities at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture, the Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture and the Genkai plant in Saga, the plants' operators said.
