Washington  - An earthquake of 6 points magnitude struck about 170 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, the US Geological Survey reported Saturday.

The temblor was registered at 2151 GMT, or nearly 7 am in Japan, the report said.

It was not known if there were damages or injuries. The exact location of the quake was at a depth of 35 kilometres about 44 kilometres south-southeast of Iwaki, on the mainland island of Honshu. (dpa)