A strong earthquake hit eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, killing at least nine people and causing severe damage to several buildings, including some that partially collapsed.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The epicentre was about 11 miles south of Hualien, a city on Taiwan’s east coast.
Authorities said more than two dozen apartment towers, houses and other buildings were severely damaged, most of them in Hualien, with an unknown number of people trapped inside.
The office of Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said she had dispatched the military to the area to help with disaster relief.
The initial quake was followed by powerful aftershocks of magnitude 6.5 and 5.7, the USGS said.
Hualien, a city of about 100,000 people, sits between the steep mountains of Taiwan’s east coast and the sea. The city and the larger Hualien County that surrounds it experience frequent earthquakes.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake centred in Hualien in 2018 killed at least 17 people and left some buildings severely tilted. The city is located just south of Taroko National Park, a leading destination for tourists, with a deep gorge along the Liwu River where it cuts into the mountains.
In 1999, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan killed more than 2,400 people and injured more than 11,000. It was Taiwan’s deadliest since a quake in 1935.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for southern Okinawa prefecture, the part of Japan that is closest to Taiwan, immediately after the quake hit. The tsunami warning was lifted a few hours later.
The agency said a tsunami of 30 centimetres was recorded at a small island close to the epicentre.
No damage or injuries were immediately reported in Japan.
[Image: USGS]