A powerful earthquake measuring a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 struck northeastern Japan on Thursday morning, shaking a wide area across the country's northeast and briefly disrupting transport services. However, authorities said there was no tsunami threat, according to local media reports.

The quake struck off the Pacific coast of Iwate Prefecture at around 7:30 a.m. local time and occurred at a depth of 50 kilometres, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.