Powerful magnitude 7.1 natural disaster jolts Fukushima area

Saturday's magnitude 7.3 quake that struck Japan's northeastern coast is believed to be an aftershock of the 2011 killer natural disaster that triggered massive tsunami in the same area, a seismologist said.

Some 830,000 households in the Kanto region, which includes greater Tokyo, and about 90,000 households in Tohoku region are without power following Saturday's quake, Kato added.

The Japan Times reported that public broadcaster NHK stated that there aren't any abnormalities at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

A powerful quake registering a magnitude of 7.1 rocked Japan Saturday night local time, with reports surfacing of widespread power outages and minor injuries.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake had a magnitude of 7.3, raising it from a preliminary magnitude of 7.1.

There is no danger of a tsunami, according to NHK TV.

There were no immediate reports of significant damage, though local news broadcast images of a landslide on a highway.

The quake registered a strong 6 in the southern part of Miyagi, and the Nakadori central and Hamadori coastal regions of Fukushima, the agency said.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga headed into his office immediately after reports of the quake, and a crisis center was set up there. He said there were no reports of major injuries. Experts warned of aftershocks over the next several days, including possibly larger quakes.

There were no irregularities at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants, or at the Kahiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, owner Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said.