TOKYO, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck off the coast of Amami-oshima island, south of the main Kagoshima Prefecture area in the middle of the Amami Island chain and Osumi Peninsula on Thursday, the weather agency said.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor occurred at 6:02 p.m. local time at a latitude of 28.3 degrees north, a longitude of 131.5 degrees east and at a depth of 10 km.