1st LD Writethru: 6.1-magnitude quake strikes northern Japan

TOKYO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 struck off Japan's northern prefecture of Iwate early Tuesday, according to the country's weather agency.

The temblor occurred at 04:24 a.m. local time at a depth of 80 km, measuring lower 5 on Japan's seismic intensity scale, which peaks at 7, said the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).