Exactly a month after the magnitude 9 earthquake followed by a massive tsunami hit the eastern coast of Japan, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake again shook its northeastern region Monday afternoon. The quake resulted to a landslide in Iwaki City.

The quake is the second major aftershock in a week. Last Thursday, a 7.1 magnitude aftershock also struck the region.

The epicenter was in Fukushima prefecture and about 50 kilometers southwest of the heavily damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, according to the United States Geological Survey. Residents in Tokyo also felt the tremors.

Workers at the plant were asked to evacuate knocking out power at the three damaged reactors for about 40 minutes, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported.

The Tohoku Electric Power Company said 220,000 households and businesses in Fukushima were without power after Monday's quake.

A tsunami warning issued by Japan's Meteorological Agency was canceled.

Earlier, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano called for residents of five towns and cities - Katsuo, Kawamata, Namie, Iitate and parts of Minami Soma - to evacuate within a month.

These towns and cities around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant were declared beyond the danger zone, but Edano warned that residents are likely to see long-term high doses of radiation levels that exceed international standard over the coming months.

"We need to be ready for the possibility that things may turn for the worse," Edano said. #30