TOKYO, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck off the east coast of Japan's Chiba Prefecture, the weather agency here said Tuesday.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor's epicenter was located at a latitude of 35.0 degrees north and longitude of 141.1 degrees east and occurred at a depth of 40 km.

The quake struck at 12:42 p.m. local time, the JMA said.