Taiwan hit by strong earthquake
A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.4 shook southeastern Taiwan on Saturday but there were no immediate reports of damage and no power outages.
The quake had a depth of 7.3 km (4.5 miles) with its epicentre in Taitung county, a sparsely populated part of the island, the Taiwan weather bureau said.
According to a Reuters report, the earthquake struck at 2:44 pm at a depth of 10 kilometres, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Taitung.
The village of Yuli experienced at least one building collapse, according to the Central News Agency (CNA).
There have been numerous tremors since the same area was struck by an earthquake on Saturday with a magnitude of 6.6.
But Sunday’s quake was much stronger.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory to remote islands near Taiwan.
Waves as high as one metre were expected to arrive around 4 pm (0700 GMT), it added.
The China Earthquake Network Centre said tremors were clearly felt in coastal areas including Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai.
Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates. The island sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Taiwan’s deadliest ever quake was a 7.6-magnitude jolt in September 1999 that killed over 2,400 people.
