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Strong quake hits off northern Japan

Friday, June 05, 2009 TOKYO: A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Friday off Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido, the meteorological agency said, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.The quake was registered at 12:30 pm (0330 GMT) at a depth of 20 kilometres (12 miles) in Pacific waters around 70 kilometres off Hokkaido's Tokachi area, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.The epicentre was 800 kilometres north of Tokyo, it said. The agency warned of small fluctuations in sea levels but no tsunami risk. Around 20 percent of the world's most powerful earthquakes strike Japan.

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