June 23, 2011 8:22AM EST

JAPAN has issued a tsunami alert after a magnitude-6.7 earthquake hit the northeast of the country, the meteorological agency said.

The quake rattled the areas hardest hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami disasters.

Japan's meteorological agency said the latest jolt hit about 50 kilometres off the east coast of Miyako, Iwate prefecture, at a depth of 20 kilometres in the Pacific.

The northeast coast of Japan's main Honshu island was ravaged by a 9.0 magnitude quake and monster tsunami on March 11, which left more 23,000 people dead or missing.

The disasters also crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, triggering the world's worst atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986 and forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to leave their homes.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology reported no immediate tsunami threat to Australian mainland, islands or territories from the earthquake.

The US Pacific Tsunami warning centre said that it did not expect a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in the quake.

MORE TO COME

Link -
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/japan-has-issued-a-tsunami-alert-afte...
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MAP       6.7        2011/06/22 21:50:48        NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.html
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