5.1-magnitude earthquake hits near Tokyo

TOKYO - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 struck Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Thursday evening, with shaking clearly felt in the Japanese capital.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the temblor occurred at around 9:27 pm local time at a depth of about 50 km, measuring 3 on Japan's 0-to-7 seismic intensity scale in parts of Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures.

The quake's epicenter was located at a latitude of 35.8 degrees north and a longitude of 140.7 degrees east.

No tsunami advisory has been issued.