UPDATE 3-Strong quake strikes southwest of Tokyo

(Adds revised magnitude, quotes, details throughout)

By Yoko Kubota

TOKYO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake jolted Tokyo and surrounding areas early Tuesday morning, throwing food and bottles from shop shelves, disrupting transport and closing a nuclear plant for safety checks.

The magnitude 6.5 quake rattled houses across Tokyo and prompted the suspension of train services and the closure of highways for inspections but there were no immediate reports of major damage.

"It was a sideways shaking like I've never experienced before. Things fell from the shelves," Atsushi Imai, a local city employee, told public broadcaster NHK.

The area has been hit by heavy rain since Monday and the weather agency warned of possible landslides and flooding.

"Due to the typhoon, there was a lot of rain and the ground is unstable," Japan Meteorological Agency official Yasuo Sekita told a televised news conference. "There may be landslides."

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.5, revised down from an initially reported 6.6.

The focus of the 5:07 a.m. (2007 GMT, Monday) tremor was 20 km (12 miles) below the surface of Suruga Bay in Shizuoka prefecture, around 150 km (90 miles) southwest of Tokyo, the agency said.

TV pictures showed glass bottles shattered on a convenience store floor, a TV newsroom with video tapes thrown from shelves, and a temple where tiles had been shaken off the roof and were scattered on the ground.

"There was a bit of shaking at first, then it got stronger and I couldn't stand up. Elevators and other machines like the heater for baths have stopped running," said a hotel worker in Omaezaki contacted by phone.

"Some files fell off shelves and lamps toppled over. Our guests are fine, but their families have called since the earthquake to ask about their safety," she said.

Only minor injuries were reported, NHK said, although power was cut to 9,100 homes.

The main expressway down the Pacific coast was closed for damage inspection and many high-speech bullet train services were suspended for safety checks, NHK said.

Central Japan Railway company (9022.T) said on its Website that the Tokaido shinkansen was not running between Tokyo and Osaka.

Japan's Chubu Electric Power Co halted operations at its Hamaoka nuclear plant after two reactors, the 1,137-megawatt No.4 and 1,267-MW No.5 units shut down automatically following the quake. [ID:T324481]