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Earthquake hits central Japan, no damage reported


    TOKYO (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 hit central Japan on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

    The epicentre of the earthquake, which struck at 8:18 a.m. local time (2318 GMT on Wednesday) was in Nagano prefecture, about 120 km (75 miles) from Tokyo. No tsunami warning was issued after the quake, the agency said.

    Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

    On March 11, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami, which triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The disaster left up to 23,000 dead or missing.

    (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Chris Gallagher)