A 5.4 magnitude quake struck close to the Japanese coast on Thursday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but no tsunami warning was immediately issued.

The quake hit at 10:03 pm (1303 GMT) 34 kilometres (21 miles) east southeast of Iwaki on the main island of Honshu and 212 kilometres northeast of the capital, Tokyo, the USGS said. The agency recorded the depth of the quake at 28 kilometres.

Around 20 percent of the world's most powerful earthquakes strike Japan, which sits on the "Ring of Fire" surrounding the Pacific Ocean.

Tectonics experts have warned of a 70 percent chance that the "Big One" - a magnitude-seven earthquake or worse - will strike the greater Tokyo region, home to around 35 million people, within the next 30 years.