Quake rocks Japanese island

A major earthquake rocked the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido today but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The town of Kushiro-cho was closest to the centre of the 6.3 magnitude quake. Officials said there had been no reports of damage in the town, which has a population of 22,000.

“It only shook for a brief moment,” said Noriaki Okubo. “Nothing fell off our shelves.”

A magnitude 6 earthquake can inflict widespread damage in a populated area.

It comes just weeks after a magnitude 6.8 quake rocked the northern Japanese region of Niigata, killing 40 and injuring over 2,700 people.