Magnitude 6.9 earthquake hits Japan

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck southwest Japan on Monday, the country's Meteorological Agency has said.

The earthquake hit at 9.19 pm local time (3:19 pm CET), it added.

Tsunami warnings were issued for Miyazaki Prefecture on the southwest island of Kyushu, the epicentre of the earthquake, as well as for the nearly Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku island.

Residents in some coastal areas were told to evacuate their homes as a precaution, while some trains stopped working.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

Public broadcaster NHK TV said that a tsunami with a height of approximately one metre in height reached land within 30 minutes of the tremor.

A wide area in Kyushu shook in the earthquake, which struck at a depth of 30 kilometres, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

The country frequently suffers earthquakes because of its location along the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of fault lines and volcanoes in the Pacific Basin.