HONG KONG, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale jolted the north coast of Honshu, Japan, at 0119 GMT on Monday, the Hong Kong Observatory said in a news bulletin.

    According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the epicenter was initially determined to be at 37.4 degrees north latitude and 138.6 degrees east longitude, about 70 kilometers southwest of Niigata.