7.2 magnitude earthquake jolts northeastern Japan: Report

Tokyo [Japan], March 20: A strong earthquake of 7.2-magnitude on the Richter Scale struck off the coast of northeastern Japan at a depth of 60 km on Saturday evening.

Tsunami waves of up to 1 meter have reached the Miyagi Prefecture caost shortly after 630 pm, according to NHK.

Two hundred homes in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture were without power, the public broadcaster said. The quake caused the Tohoku Shinkansen to suspend services.

In Miyagi Prefecture, the quake measured up to a strong 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7.

Municipal fire officials in Miyagi reported no damage from the quake as of 630 p.m., but were continuing to gather information, NHK said.

"Suddenly, the large tremor continued for about 20 seconds," the public broadcaster quoted a disaster official in Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture, as saying. "The shaking caused things on a desk to move, but they didn't fall, and I felt the shaking was smaller than last month's earthquake."

Japan lies along what is called the Pacific Ring of Fire, an imaginary horseshoe-shaped zone that follows the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

The quake comes a little over a month after a 7.3 temblor struck off neighbouring Fukushima Prefecture. The Febuary 14 quake caused widespread power outages and left dozens injured.