Magnitude-6.6 quake jolts western region

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 shook western Japan on Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, adding that a tsunami warning was not issued.

There were no immediate reports of major damage and no irregularities at nuclear plants, but media said roughly 40,000 households were at one point without power, and multiple people were injured.

Gravestones were toppled, bottles fell off the shelves in stores and smashed, and at least one building collapsed. But there were no reports of deaths or major injuries, and nobody was trapped, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

The epicenter of the earthquake was in Tottori prefecture at a depth of 10 kilometers, the agency said. The quake occurred at 2:07 pm and was followed by a series of weaker aftershocks.

Shaking could be felt in most of western Japan, including Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. households

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency, a governmentbacked nuclear research institute, said connection to outside power at a partly-decommissioned experimental uranium extraction facility was lost for 53 minutes, but auxiliary generators came on immediately so there was no loss of power or damage.

On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast of Japan was struck by a magnitude-9 earthquake and a massive tsunami. Those events triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active area. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude-6 or greater.

were at one point without power after the earthquake.