A 5.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's Honshu island on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties and no tsunami alert was issued.

The quake hit at 0:57 am (1557 GMT Saturday) at a depth of 11 kilometres near the west coast of Honshu and 57 kilometres northwest of Niigata, the USGS said.

Around 20 percent of the world's most powerful earthquakes strike Japan.