A TV screenshot from NHK's live broadcast of a strong earthquake in northeastern Japan early Thursday morning. [Photo: Xinhua]
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 jolting northeastern Japan early Thursday morning left more than 100 people injured.
According to Kyodo News, among those injured, many of whom were injured from falling glass, 55 were from Iwate Prefecture and 49 were from Aomori Prefecture. Fifteen of the injured were in serious condition.
Up to 10,000 households in Iwate, Aomori, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures suffered from temporary blackout, Kyodo reported.
A fact-finding team from the central government has arrived in the quake-hit region.
The epicenter of the 12:26 a.m. quake was about 108 km underground in the Pacific coast area of northern Iwate Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
As Iwate and Aomori were the two most affected prefectures, the quake sent shockwave across all northeastern part of Japan' s Honshu Island as well as southern part of the northernmost Hokkaido Prefecture.
The agency issued no tsunami warning following the quake, however, it warned against major aftershocks.
Shinkansen bullet trains running across the quake-hit region were suspended Thursday morning for security checks.