A 6.1-magnitude earthquake has struck Japan 175 miles from the Fukushima nuclear plant

Less than 24 hours after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake pummeled Mexico City, another tremor has struck off the east coast of Japan.

The 6.1-magnitude quake struck roughly 175 miles east of the shuttered Fukushima nuclear plant - at roughly 2:30 a.m. local time, according to the US Geological Survey.

Like Mexico, Japan is located in what is considered an active earthquake region.

The country is influenced by the slipping and sliding of several of Earth's tectonic plates, including the North America plate, Pacific plate, Philippine Sea plate, and Eurasia plate. Whenever these chunks of crust grind or butt up against one another, earthquakes happen.

Over the past century, Japan has been struck by nine earthquakes, each of which have killed more than 1,000 people.

This story is being continuously updated.

NOW WATCH: This animated map shows every single earthquake in the past 15 years