Japanese authorities issued a tsunami warning Monday morning after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake jolted the northern part of the country.

The earthquake, which jolted near the east coast of Honshu Monday morning, occurred at 7:23 a.m. local time (2223 GMT Sunday) with its epicenter at a depth of 10 km.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the quake measured lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in central Miyagi Prefecture, and 4 in several locations in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.

The areas were hit hard by the devastating March 11 earthquake.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2011)