The Japan Meteorological Agency says the magnitude 6.5 quake occurred off Iwate shortly after 5 p.m. local time. It had an intensity of 4 on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 in the hardest-hit areas of Iwate and neighboring Miyagi Prefecture.

Residents of Iwate, in the north of Honshu island, were warned to expect waves of up to one metre along the coast.