Japan's Meteorological Agency has lifted its tsunami warnings, after a strong earthquake hit the northeastern coast, shaking buildings as far as Tokyo.

According to the US Geological Survey the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.4, with no immediate reports of any deaths or serious damage.

However, a one-metre tsunami did hit the coast of Miyagi Prefecture in the northeast, the same region affected by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

That quake triggered fuel-rod meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing radiation leakage, contamination of food and water and mass evacuations in the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, has reported no irregularities at its nuclear plants after the latest quake.