More than 100 people were injured as a powerful7.3 magnitude measuring hit northeastern Japan, causing power cut and suspension of railway movement.
No casualties have been reported after the late-night quake in the Pacific, which did not trigger a tsunami, and no abnormalities were observed at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, residents preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of the triple disaster said they were frightened by Saturday's jolt -- which the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said was considered an aftershock of the massive tremor on March 11, 2011.
"I was at home... the shaking was so strong I became truly afraid for my physical safety," Masami Nakai, a municipal official in Soma city in northern Fukushima, told AFP.