Preliminary magnitude of the temblor was reported as 7.0, but the U.S. Geological Survey dropped that to 6.9 — which is still a hearty shaker. It struck at 8:43 a.m. Saturday local time. And as you can see from the quake map, it wasn’t epicentered offshore as many Japanese temblors are, but smack dab in the middle of the populous island nation. However, unlike some other seismically active areas in that part of the world, Japanese construction generally holds up well to mean shakers.

Reuters is reporting that Japanese TV says some kids and teachers at a day care center have been hurt, and that some highways have been shut down.

For reference, the earthquake that killed tens of thousands in China in May was magnitude 7.9. The 1994 Northridge Earthquake in Los Angeles was 6.7 on the Richter scale.

No tsunami warning will be issued for the other side of the Pacific.

(Map: U.S. Geological Survey)