Magnitude 5.2 earthquake hits Japan near east coast of Honshu

Iwaki - The US Geological Survey (USGS) is reporting that an earthquake with an initial magnitude of 5.5, occurred off the coast of Honshu, northern Japan, early on Friday.

According to the USGS, the quake occurred on November 09, 2012, at 03:51:58 UTC, at a depth 40.4 km (25.1 miles) near the east coast of Honshu, 29 miles SE of Iwaki, 31 miles E of Kitaibaraki, 33 miles E of Takahagi and 39 miles ENE of Hitachi. The Inquisitr reports that according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the temblor was later downgraded to a 5.2 magnitude. According to the The Inquistr, no tsunami warning was issued and there have been no reports of damage or injuries. The last major seismic incident in Japan was a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in March 2011, that set off a tsunami that left over 20,000 dead or missing and caused a nuclear accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, the worst since the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986.