TOKYO (REUTERS) - An earthquake of preliminary magnitude of 4.8 struck on Tuesday (March 16) in central Japan's Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo at 4.56am local time (3.56am Singapore time), according to public broadcaster NHK.

The tremor briefly shook buildings in the Japanese capital.

There were no immediate reports of damage and there was no tsunami warning issued, the broadcaster said.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) logged a 5.0-magnitude quake which struck around 4km from Sakai city, in Osaka prefecture.