Tsunami warning lifted in south Japan after quake

TOKYO (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 jolted islands off Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa on Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

The agency lifted a tsunami warning it had issued earlier for waves of about 50 cm (20 inches) following the quake, which occurred around 10:46 a.m. (0146 GMT).

The focus of the tremor was 40 km (25 miles) below the seabed near the diving resort island of Miyakojima, 1,900 km (1,200 miles) southwest of Tokyo, the agency said.

The earthquake was followed by an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

In March, a 6.9 magnitude quake struck the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, about 300 km west of Tokyo, killing one person, injuring more than 200 and destroying hundreds of homes.

In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring more than 3,000.

That was the deadliest quake since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit the city of Kobe in 1995, killing more than 6,400.