An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale occurred at 14:33 GMT on Wednesday near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

The epicenter was initially determined to be near 35.2 degrees north latitude and 141.4 degrees east longitude, about 150 kilometers east-southeast of Tokyo.

There are no reports so far about casualties or property damage.

A deadly 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit the area on March 11 last year has left almost 20,000 dead or missing and sparked the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.