A strong earthquake hit southern Japan on Tuesday, though there was no tsunami warning nor immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The magnitude 6.0 quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) in waters off the island of Miyako in the southern Okinawan chain, according to the US Geological Survey.

Japan's Meteorological Agency warned of small changes in sea levels but no tsunami.

Miyako, with a population of about 55,000, sits some 1,840 kilometres (1,143 miles) southwest of Tokyo and about 380 kilometres east of Taipei.

Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates and experiences a number of relatively violent quakes every year, though damage is often slight thanks to rigorous building codes and broad earthquake awareness.

But a massive undersea quake on March 11, 2011 sent a tsunami barrelling into Japan's northeast coast.

More than 18,500 people were left dead or missing and three reactors went into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

It was Japan's worst disaster in the post World War II-era.

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Geologists use radioactive clock to document longest earthquake record
Madison WI (SPX) May 04, 2017
Using radioactive elements trapped in crystallized, cream-colored "veins" in New Mexican rock, geologists have peered back in time more than 400,000 years to illuminate a record of earthquakes along the Loma Blanca fault in the Rio Grande rift. It is the longest record of earthquakes ever documented on a fault, showing 13 distinct seismic events - nine of which occurred at regular interval ... read more

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