An earthquake of magnitude 6 on the Richter's scale struck 91 km away from Japan's Noda on Wednesday. The quake's epicentre is located at 40.112°N, 142.889°E.
The US Geological Survey has reported that the earthquake struck at a depth of 19 km at 5:26 pm local time (1426 GMT). No casualties has been reported yet. Authorities have also not issued any tsunami warning.
Japan, which is prone to frequent earthquakes, was also struck by another quake of magnitude 7.5 earlier this month. This followed another earthquake of magnitude 6.7, which struck northeastern Japan on 8 December.
This is not the only earthquake reported from across the world at a time when the New Year is being celebrated. A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Susanville, California, in the U.S. on Tuesday (local time), Reuters quoted the USGS as saying. The quake was at a depth of 4.7 km (2.9 miles), it said.
Tibet was also struck by an earthquake of magnitude 3.4 earlier in the day on New Year's eve, as per India's National Center for Seismology.
Why is Japan so prone to earthquakes?
Japan, which has seen large-scale devastations from seismic activity throughout recorded history, is so prone to earthquakes because of its position on the 'Pacific Ring of Fire', which is a zone where four tectonic plates, namely, Pacific, Philippine Sea, Eurasian, and North American, come in constant contact with each other.
Their convergence, grinding, as well as subduction under each other releases seismic energy, which leads to earthquakes as well as tsunamis in the region.
Japan, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 small to big earthquakes every year.
Although most of the quakes are mild, their impact depends on how deep beneath the earth's surface they strike or how close they occur to the country's coastline.
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the history of Japan was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the magnitude of which was recorded at around 9.0 to 9.1 on the Richter scale.
