Moderate quake rocks northern Japan

TOKYO, Dec 30 (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook the northern part of Japan's main Honshu Island Thursday but there were no fears of tidal waves, the Meteorological Agency said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or property damage.
The quake occurred at 10:29 pm (1329 GMT) with its epicenter located off the Pacific coast prefecture of Miyagi, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Tokyo, the agency said.
Its focus was 80 kilometers (50 miles) deep, the agency said.

12/30/2004 13:50 GMT - AFP