TOKYO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck Japan's Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, in the Kano region, at 12:12 p.m. local time (0312 GMT) on Thursday, the weather agency here said.

The temblor, measuring 4 on the Japanese seismic scale which peaks at 7, struck at a latitude of 35.7 degrees north and a longitude of 140.8 degrees east, and at a depth of 50 km, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.