A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rattled Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture south of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant today, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The quake shook buildings in Tokyo, but no damage was immediately reported, public broadcaster NHK said, adding that flights at the capital's Narita Airport were briefly suspended for safety checks before resuming.

The USGS said the quake struck at 6.56 p.m. (0956 GMT) and was centred 98 kilometres south of Fukushima and 142 kilometres from Tokyo.

The quake struck at a depth of 24.7 kilometres.

Japan's meteorological agency measured the quake at a magnitude of 6.1.

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