Minor quake shakes northern Japan, no injuries

Tokyo, Dec 31: An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 joltedJapan's main northern island of Hokkaido early today, the JapanMeteorological Agency said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from thequake, which occurred at 7:34 am local time, according to Japan's Kyodonews agency.

Tremors of similar intensity usually cause hanging objects toswing and can be felt by people walking on the street. Themeteorological agency said there was no risk of a tsunami.

The focus of the tremor was 50 km (31.07 miles) below the surface of the earth, off the east coast of Hokkaido, it said.

Reuters