Strong earthquake shakes Taiwan and damages buildings
A powerful earthquake has rocked the island of Taiwan, damaging buildings in a southern city and creating a tsunami that headed towards southern Japanese islands.
Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency said Wednesday morning’s earthquake was magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale, while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.4.
A five-storey building in Taiwan’s Hualien appeared heavily damaged with the first floor collapsing and leaving the rest leaning at a 45-degree angle.
In the capital Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings and within some newer office complexes.
The earthquake struck at 7.58am with the epicentre about 11 miles south-south west of Hualien and 22 miles deep.
Train services were suspended across the island of 23 million people after the quake struck, as were subway services in Taipei.
Things have returned to normal in the capital with children going to school and the morning commute reconvening as usual.
Wu Chien-fu, the head of Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring bureau, said effects were detected as far away as Kinmen, a Taiwanese-controlled island off the coast of China.
Multiple aftershocks were felt in Taipei in the hour after the initial quake.
The Japan Meteorological Agency forecast a tsunami of up to three metres for the southern Japanese island group of Okinawa.
A 30-centimetre wave was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the quake struck.
Japan’s Self Defence Force has sent planes into the area to gather information about the tsunami impact around the Okinawa region.
It is also preparing shelters for evacuees if necessary.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no tsunami threat to Hawaii or Guam.
The quake was believed to be the biggest in Taiwan since one in 1999 caused extensive damage.
Taiwan lies along the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.