A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Tokyo in Japan on Thursday evening, but no tsunami warning was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Initial information from the JMA put the epicentre of the quake in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, and said it struck at 10:41pm (1341 GMT) with a depth of 80 kilometres. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The US Geological Survey put the quake's strength at magnitude 5.9 with a depth of 61 kilometres.

Several hundred Tokyo homes were also reportedly without power after the earthquake struck.

Newly elected Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a tweet urged residents to "please take action to save lives while checking the latest information."

The quake was comparatively strong compared to recent quakes in Tokyo, which like much of Japan regularly experiences seismic activity.

Last month, a 6.1-magnitude quake struck off Japan's northwestern coast, also causing no damage.