Sharjah24 - WAM: The southern Chiba prefecture of Japan was slammed by an earthquake on Thursday with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

According to the weather agency, the quake occurred in southern Chiba prefecture at 4:16 am local time at a depth of 40 km, measuring upper 5 on Japan's seismic intensity scale which peaks at 7.

The temblor's epicentre was located at a latitude of 35.2 degrees north and a longitude of 140.2 degrees east.

The quake was felt in the Japanese capital of Tokyo, and no tsunami warning has been issued.