A moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5 hit northern Japan on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of damage, meteorologists said. The quake off Miyagi prefecture on Japan's northeast coast, some 350 km north of Tokyo, took place at 9.25 am, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake occurred at a depth of 70 km. Japan lies at the junction of four tectonic plates and endures about 20 per cent of the world's most powerful earthquakes, which frequently jolt Tokyo and other major cities.