TOKYO: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The epicentre of the earthquake was the Bungo Channel, a strait separating the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, the agency said, adding that no tsunami warning had been issued.

Ehime and Kochi prefectures were hit by the quake with an intensity of 6 on Japan's 1-7 scale, the JMA said.