EARTHQUAKES HIT EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- A series of three earthquakes rocked the east coast of Honshu in Japan early Thursday, the Malaysian Meteorological Department said.

In a statement, the department said the first earthquake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, was recorded at 2.16am, about 4,931km northeast of Kudat, in the east Malaysian state of Sabah.

Twenty-eight minutes later, the same area was hit by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake and another at 5.24am, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale.

At about the same time, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit the New Britain Region, an island off Papau New Guinea, 3,677km southeast of Kunak, Sabah.

The earthquakes did not pose any tsunami threat to Malaysia, it said.