Strong quake shakes Tokyo

TOKYO: A strong earthquake rocked Japan's capital and surrounding areas yesterday, halting trains and a professional baseball game, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The quake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, hit the sea south of Japan's Honshu island at 6:56 pm (Beijing time), according to the China National Seismological Network.

There was no threat of a tsunami from the quake, which was centered at a depth of 303 kilometers in the Izu islands off the eastern coast of Japan.

The quake rattled furniture and walls in Tokyo homes and shook the capital region, including Ibaraki, Saitama, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures.