TOKYO: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 shook eastern Japan on Thursday but there were no immediate reports of damage and a tsunami warning was not issued.

The epicentre of the earthquake, which occurred at 11:50 a.m. (0250 GMT), was in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.