At least two people were killed and 24 injured as a powerful quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale rocked the Japanese city of Hiroshima this morning.
A 75-year-old woman in Hiroshima, 600 km west of Tokyo, was crushed to death as her house collapsed in the quake, according to the Jiji Press news agency.
A 50-year-old housewife was also killed in Ehime, located on Japan's Shikoku island, 700 kilometers (434 miles) west of Tokyo, it said.
Two people were seriously injured and 22 people, including two high school students, suffered light injuries, the news agency said, quoting police sources.
The high school students were injured as a wall at a school gymnasium collapsed, it said.
Police and fire department could not confirm the reports.
The focus of the quake, which struck at 0628 GMT, was located 60 kms under the seabed off the coast of Hiroshima, the meteorological agency said.
No tidal wave warning was issued, the agency said.
Earlier, an earthquake measuring 5.1 struck a remote area of China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
A spokesman for the State Seismological Bureau said there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The quake hit Hejing County at 22.23 GMT last night.
AFP