An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 struck a swath of western Japan early Friday morning, registering a strong intensity in parts of Shikoku, Honshu and Kyushu islands but no tsunami was observed, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
A total of 14 people were hurt in Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Kochi and Oita prefectures after the 2:07 a.m. quake, according to local firefighters. All are believed to have sustained minor injuries.
Shikoku Electric Power Co. said no abnormality was detected in measuring instrument data at its Ikata nuclear power plant in Ikata, Ehime Prefecture, where a lower-5 was registered on the Japanese seismic scale of 7.