Powerful Quake Rocks Northern Japan, No Reported Damage

The Japanese Meteorological Agency says an extremely strong earthquake rattled the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Saturday. The magnitude was 6.4. The U.S. Geological Survey's report puts the tremor at a higher magnitude of 6.9; the epicenter was very deep, about 65 miles below ground, near the city of Obihiro. That's about 120 miles east of Hokkaido's largest city, Sapporo.

There are no reports of damage, and Japanese authorities did not announce a tsunami watch. The Associated Press says nearby nuclear power plants haven't reported any problems.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.