Tokyo, March 28 (IANS) A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Miyagi prefecture and its vicinity in northeastern Japan Monday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The agency issued a tsunami alert for the Pacific coast of the prefecture following the quake, which occurred at 7. 24 a.m. (local time) However, the tsunami alert was lifted at 9.05 a.m., Xinhua reported.

The quake's focus was 80 km east of Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake's epicentre was some 161 km east- northeast of Japan's Fukushima prefecture, located in the Tohoku region on the island of Honshu, and 368 km northeast of Tokyo. It occurred at 7.23 a.m. local time Monday (2223 GMT Sunday), at a depth of 5.9 kilometres

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the Monday's quake.

On March 11, the Miyagi prefecture and other neighbouring regions were struck by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake off the coast and ensuing tsunami, which killed over 10,000 people and caused severe damage and huge property loss.

The toll from the March 11 quake and ensuing tsunami stood at 10,489 Sunday, while 16,621 people were listed as missing, DPA reported police as saying.

The catastrophe also sparked a nuclear leak crisis at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, which the Japanese government is still trying to contain.