A 6.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan's northern coast early Saturday triggered a small tsunami.

According to The Associated Press, the quake was very close to the earth's surface, only 6 miles below sea level off the coast of Fukushima, northeast of Tokyo, which is near the nuclear power plant struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

After the quake hit at 4:22 a.m. local time, a "20-centimeter tsunami reached the coast of Ishinomaki Ayukawa about 50 minutes" later, the AP reported. Smaller waves at other locations along the coast also were reported.

"Fukushima Dai-ichi and two other nuclear power plants, along with other nuclear facilities along the coast, found no abnormalities following the quake, and their reactors and fuel storage pools are being cooled safely, according to the Nuclear Regulation Authority," the AP reported.

A representative for electric utility company TEPCO, which controls the Fukushima Daiichi facility, confirmed to CNN that plant operations were not disrupted.

Japan's meteorological agency issued a warning: "Marine threat is in place. Get out of the water and leave the coast immediately."

Fortunately, the Meteorological Agency also forecast that "though there may be (a) slight sea-level change in coastal regions, no tsunami damage is expected."

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, "the quake was centered off Honshu island some 129 kilometers (79 miles) east-southeast of Namie and 284 kilometers east-northeast of Tokyo," CNN reported.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 quake struck 231 miles northeast of Tokyo, causing a devastating tsunami that killed around 19,000 people. It also triggered several meltdowns at the Fukushima plant, the AP reported.

That quake, the fourth largest since the beginning of the 20th century and the largest ever to hit Japan, caused 30-foot waves during the tsunami.

To this day, over 100,000 people have still not returned to their home in fear of the radiation contamination from the plant.