A Japan earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck southern Hokkaido early Monday, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said, with no tsunami alert issued.
The quake hit at 5:23 am local time on Monday, or 1:23 am PKT, at a depth of 83km, according to the agency.
The US Geological Survey said the quake posed minimal threat to life and property because the affected area has a limited population. The epicentre lay about 200km east of Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido in northern Japan.
A Japanese Meteorological Agency official warned that strong shaking had raised the risk of falling rocks and landslides in affected areas.
The agency also warned that the region could face more quakes of similar strength over the next week.
Hours earlier, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck at sea a few hundred kilometres south of Hokkaido.
The latest tremor came less than a week after the agency warned of a higher risk of a megaquake following a 7.7-magnitude quake off northern Iwate prefecture.
That earlier quake injured six people, shook buildings in Tokyo and sent 80cm tsunami waves into a port in Iwate.
Read: Japan Earthquake Triggers Megaquake Warning After Tsunami Alert
Japan sits on four major tectonic plates along the Pacific Ring of Fire and records around 1,500 tremors each year.
