A strong earthquake rocked northern Japan late Thursday, just weeks after a powerful tremor killed 39 people and injured thousands.

The latest quake, with a 5.7 magnitude, hit the northernmost main island of Hokkaido at 11:03 p.m. local time, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries in the quake, which was centred about 60 kilometres underground.

Earlier Thursday, a 5.2-magnitude tremor centred about 20 kilometres underground shook a rural part of Niigata prefecture, about 250 km north of Tokyo.

The quake was about 800 km north of last month's magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck rural Niigata prefecture.




One person was injured in Thursday morning's quake, which struck minutes before 9 a.m. local time. Television footage showed telephone poles and trees swaying, while officials said they received reports of burst water pipes and minor mudslides.

Power was cut to a nuclear reactor at an area power plant, along with bullet trains travelling through the area.

Northern Japan is still recovering from the Oct. 23 quake in Niigata that killed 39 people and injured more than 2,000.

More than 46,000 people are still living in emergency shelters.

That quake was the worst in Japan since 1995, when a magnitude-7.2 quake killed 6,000 people in Kobe.