Quake jolts eastern Japan, no tsunami warning issued

TOKYO, July 3 (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 hit Eastern Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The agency said no tsunami warning had been issued, and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

On March 11 last year Japan's northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in Japan, followed by a tsunami that caused massive destruction and wrecked the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, triggering the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

The disaster left up to 20,000 dead or missing, and the radiation leaks caused mass evacuations and widespread contamination, the effect of which has yet to be fully ascertained. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Michael Watson)