7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes off northeastern Japan

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 struck off the Sanriku coast in northeastern Japan on Monday afternoon, the country's weather agency said. A tsunami warning has been issued.

The temblor occurred at 4:53 p.m. local time at a depth of 10 km, measuring upper 5 on Japan's seismic scale of 7 in the hardest-hit areas, said the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The quake's epicenter was located at a latitude of 39.8 degrees north and a longitude of 143.2 degrees east.

xinhua