<p>A strong earthquake struck just off the coast of Hokkaido in northern Japan. No tsunami warning was issued.<br /><br />The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 hit about 12:30 p.m. (0330 GMT) today, near Urakawa town on the southern tip of Hokkaido, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.<br /><br />It said the quake's center was located at a depth of 50 kilometers (30 miles) below the sea surface.</p>.<p><br />There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The lunchtime quake caught many residents by surprise.<br /><br />"It was pretty strong. It went on about 40 seconds," said Haru Matsutakeya, 45-year-old resident in Hokkaido's capital of Sapporo, about 170 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of the epicenter.<br /><br />Just before the quake struck, an alarm on her cellphone and of several others around her sounded at a center for disabled people where she works. Matsutakeya rushed to turn off a kerosene stove in the room and stood by silently.<br /><br />Hiroyuki Kenai, a disaster prevention official at the Urakawa town was having lunch in his office when the quake hit.<br /><br />He told Japan's NHK national television in a telephone interview that officials were still assessing whether there was any damage.<br /><br />Two nuclear power plants and the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in the quake-hit region were not affected, nuclear safety officials said.<br /><br />Tohoku "bullet train" service south of the region was temporarily suspended but has since resumed, according to NHK.<br /><br />Some local train lines in Hokkaido were suspended for safety checks, though there were no immediate reports of damage.</p>
<p>A strong earthquake struck just off the coast of Hokkaido in northern Japan. No tsunami warning was issued.<br /><br />The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 hit about 12:30 p.m. (0330 GMT) today, near Urakawa town on the southern tip of Hokkaido, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.<br /><br />It said the quake's center was located at a depth of 50 kilometers (30 miles) below the sea surface.</p>.<p><br />There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The lunchtime quake caught many residents by surprise.<br /><br />"It was pretty strong. It went on about 40 seconds," said Haru Matsutakeya, 45-year-old resident in Hokkaido's capital of Sapporo, about 170 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of the epicenter.<br /><br />Just before the quake struck, an alarm on her cellphone and of several others around her sounded at a center for disabled people where she works. Matsutakeya rushed to turn off a kerosene stove in the room and stood by silently.<br /><br />Hiroyuki Kenai, a disaster prevention official at the Urakawa town was having lunch in his office when the quake hit.<br /><br />He told Japan's NHK national television in a telephone interview that officials were still assessing whether there was any damage.<br /><br />Two nuclear power plants and the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in the quake-hit region were not affected, nuclear safety officials said.<br /><br />Tohoku "bullet train" service south of the region was temporarily suspended but has since resumed, according to NHK.<br /><br />Some local train lines in Hokkaido were suspended for safety checks, though there were no immediate reports of damage.</p>