The epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Ibaraki Prefecture at the depth of 80 kilometres (about 50 miles), according to the JMA.
No tsunami alert has been declared. There is also no information about any damages and victims caused by the earthquake.
Japan is located in a seismically active zone known as the Ring of Fire and regularly suffers from powerful earthquakes. The 2011 9.0 magnitude earthquake and the following tsunami killed over 15,000 people and caused the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.