Powerful Earthquake Shakes Southeast Taiwan, Killing One Person

On Saturday, a significant earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 jolted southeastern Taiwan, although there were no immediate indications of damage or power disruptions.

According to the Taiwan meteorology office, the quake had a depth of 7.3 km (4.5 miles) and its epicenter was in Taitung county, a sparsely inhabited portion of the island.

Strong quake rocks southeast Taiwan

(Photo : SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Taitung county commissioner April Yao said on Facebook that the quake was "very strong," and the official Central News Agency published an image of bottles shaking off their shelves in a Taitung store, as per Reuters.

According to Taiwan's fire service, no complaints of damage have been received.

The state-owned utility Taipower stated that there was no disruption in power delivery on Taiwan's east coast.

According to the meteorology agency, the tremor could be felt throughout Taiwan. Buildings in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, temporarily trembled.

There was little influence on operations at the technology parks in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, which are home to large semiconductor manufacturing.

Taiwan is located at the meeting point of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.

A quake in southern Taiwan killed more than 100 people in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake in 1999 killed over 2,000 people.

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More than 7,000 households were reported to be without power

A severe earthquake jolted parts of Taiwan, collapsing a three-story building and momentarily trapping four people inside, stranding nearly 400 tourists on a mountain, and derailing part of a train, as per The Guardian.

The 6.9-magnitude quake was the largest of more than 75 that shook the island's south-eastern coast between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon when a 6.4-magnitude quake struck the same area.

Most of the damage looked north of the epicenter at Chishang, Taitung county's northernmost town, at a relatively shallow depth of four miles (6km).

According to Taiwanese official media, the Central News Agency, a man named Huang died after a piece of machinery fell on him at a plant in Hualien.

According to CNA, a three-story structure in the adjacent village of Yuli in Hualien fell, including a 7-Eleven convenience store on the first floor and houses on the higher floors.

The building's 70-year-old owner and his wife were the first to be saved, but it took longer to reach a 39-year-old lady and her five-year-old kid.

A photo posted by the Hualien municipal administration showed the girl laying on a blanket while rescue personnel in orange uniforms brought her down a metal ladder from the top of the wreckage.

In Yuli, almost 7,000 houses were reported to be without electricity, and water pipelines were damaged.

According to media accounts, police and firemen went to a bridge collapse on a two-lane road in what seemed to be a rural region of town, where three persons and one or more automobiles may have gone off.

A landslide also stranded around 400 visitors in Yuli on a mountain noted for the orange day flowers that blanket its slopes this time of year, according to the CNA.

They had no power and a poor cell phone service.

According to official media, debris from a falling canopy on a platform at Dongli railway station in Fuli - between Yuli and the epicenter at Chishang - hit a passing train, derailing six carriages, according to the railway administration.

There were no injuries among the 20 passengers.

Taiwanese locals posted videos of the earthquake's aftermath on social media.

In one video, a couple was stuck on a bridge in a remote region as the elevated highway in front and behind them collapsed.

A CCTV camera captured the moment a ceiling collapsed on an indoor badminton court, causing players to flee for safety.

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