Buildings shook violently during the quake. 

HIROSHIMA, Japan -- A strong earthquake left two people dead and dozens injured in southwestern Japan on Saturday.  The quake struck at about 3:28 p.m. (0628 GMT),  

The magnitude 6.4 quake struck at 3.28 p.m. local time (0628 GMT) and was centered about 40 miles (65 kilometers) below ground, near Hiroshima state, about 430 miles (690 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said. 

The government said that 14 of the injured were in a serious condition and that a total of more than 500 homes were damaged in the quake, which had its epicenter in the waters off Hiroshima, about 690 km (430 miles) southwest of Tokyo. 

An 80-year-old woman died when her house collapsed and a 50-year-old woman died after being hit by roof tiles as she fled her house in Ehime prefecture, police said. 

There were 12 people with serious injuries among the 123 people hurt in Hiroshima prefecture, said local official Masaaki Fukuhara. 

Water lines were cut in islands near the quake's epicenter, affecting 10,000 households. It was unclear when water would be restored, Fukuhara said. 

Dozens of schools and other public buildings were damaged, and at least one house was destroyed by a fire that started after the quake. 
 

Roads buckled and trains were disrupted by the quake. 
About 20 teenagers were injured when a gymnasium wall collapsed at Shimizugaoka Senior High School in the Hiroshima suburb of Kure, police told Kyodo news service. 

Sixteen homes were damaged, said municipal official Akira Otao, and some people were trapped in elevators during the quake. 

Trains were stopped and some roads buckled in the quake, which made buildings sway violently and people stumble in Hiroshima city. The airport in Hiroshima was closed for inspection. 

Telephone service was also disrupted, but there was no report of electrical blackouts. Television station NHK said no nuclear reactors in quake-hit areas were affected. 

There were reports of windows shaking as far away as South Korea, more than 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of the epicentre. 

"There was a terrible shaking and some products fell on to the floor," said Takuya Ueda, a cashier at a convenience store in Hiroshima. 

"It lasted a long time, about 30 seconds, but there was no panic inside the store." 

The Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of tsunami, the waves caused by undersea disturbances such as earthquakes and volcanic activity. 

Television footage taken from inside NHK's Hiroshima office showed hanging lights shaking and employees leaving their desks to head for the exits. 

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and straddles three tectonic plates, the huge slabs of land that cover the surface of the Earth. 

A magnitude-6 quake can seriously damage houses and buildings in a populated area. Saturday's quake was located offshore and relatively deep, which may have lightened its impact. 

There appeared to be no structural damage to major buildings. 

Japan has strict building codes that mean there is typically little serious damage from all but the most serious tremors, such as the massive quake that hit the city of Kobe in western Japan in 1995, killing more than 6,000 people. 

In October, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck a largely rural area in Tottori prefecture. Though at least 120 people were hurt in that quake, no one died. Some 2,000 homes were damaged, but only two were destroyed. 

(The quake measured a 6.4 on the Japanese scale of one to seven. Such a quake 
can make it difficult to stand and can damage non-earthquake protected buildings.) 
 

``I was shaken up and down for a couple times, and then rolls came for 30 or 40 seconds. I could not stop cups and dishes from falling from the cupboard,'' Akira Ishido, a 27-year-old resident in the nearby town of Kochi, told the Kyodo news service. 
 

There was no ``tsunami'' or tidal wave triggered by the earthquake.