Strong earthquake hits off southern Japan coast


Japanese officials issued a tsunami warning Sunday for several small islands after a strong earthquake shook an area off the country's southern coast.

The Meteorological Agency said the earthquake hit at 3:10 p.m. (0610 GMT) and registered magnitude 6.6. The U.S. Geological Survey measured it at 6.4.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The Japanese agency said the tsunami was expected to be about 1.6 feet (50 centimeters) high.

The quake hit 69 miles (110 kilometers) off the southern coast of Miyakojima island, in southern Japan, at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), it said.

The small island is about 1,120 miles (1,800 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.