Strong quake strikes southern Japan

TOKYO - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 hit Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu early on Wednesday, injuring at least six people.

The early morning quake, followed by two smaller jolts, shook the region around the city of Fukuoka, about 900km southwest of Tokyo, at 6.11am (9.11am NZT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No tsunami warning was issued.

At least six people were injured in the city, public broadcaster NHK said.

An earthquake with the magnitude of 7.0 hit the same area on March 20, killing one person and injuring about 500.

An agency official said Wednesday's tremors were considered aftershocks.

Traffic was stopped on some highways in the region and high-speed train services were disrupted, NHK said.

"The shaking was very violent... It lasted about 10 seconds," Yutaka Ishiyama, a local town official, told NHK.

The Meteorological Agency, which originally issued a magnitude reading of 5.7 for the first quake, said two smaller tremors with magnitudes of 4.6 and 4.5 followed.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

- REUTERS