TOKYO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Japan Meteorological Agency warned Sunday that strong aftershocks could be felt for around one week, after a major earthquake jolted the Hokuriku region on the Sea of Japan coast in the morning.

    As many as 100 aftershocks were registered by Sunday evening in the areas affected by the quake, the agency said. On Sunday morning, a quake with a magnitude of 6.9 rocked the area round the Ishikawa prefecture, killing one and injuring over 100 people. It also generated a tidal wave of around 20 centimeters.

    Takeshi Hachimine of the agency's quake and tsunami monitoring division was quoted as saying by Kyodo News that the intensity of aftershocks in the week to come could be as high as upper 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7. The quake on Sunday morning registered upper 6.

    Among the aftershocks by now, a strong one reached the magnitude of 5.3. It jolted the Wajima city of Ishikawa prefecture at 6:11 p.m. (0911 GMT). The quake could also be felt in prefectures such as Niigata, Toyama, Gifu and others. No tsunami warning was issued as to the aftershocks by now.

    The weather service said that it plans to announce on Monday the likely scale and probability of major aftershocks.