Strong earthquake shakes Taiwan; tsunami warnings are issued

A 7.2 Richter magnitude earthquake off the coast of Taiwan shook the capital Taipei on Wednesday morning, cutting power to several parts of the city and triggering a tsunami warning in the southern islands of Japan and the Philippines.

television stations from Taiwanaccording to Reuters, showed images of some collapsed buildings in the eastern county of Hualienclose to the epicenter of the earthquake, and the media reports that some people were trapped.

The earthquake occurred at 7:58 am (23:58 GMT), at a depth of 15.5 km, near the east coast of Taiwanaccording to the Taiwan Central Meteorological Administration. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years, state media reportscited by Reuters.

O Japan issued an evacuation warning to the coastal areas of southern Okinawa Prefecture. It was expected that tsunami waves of up to 3 meters reached large areas of the southwestern coast of Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agencywhich estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.5.

A 30 cm tsunami hit the island of Yonaguni at 09:18 (00:18 GMT), the JMA said.
A Philippine Seismology Agency also issued a warning to residents in coastal areas of several provinces, urging them to move to higher ground.

The earthquake was felt in Shanghai, said a Reuters witness. Chinese state media said the tremor was also felt in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou It is Ningdeat Fujian province of China.
The Taipei city government did not receive any reports of damage and the city’s MRT went into operation soon after.

Taiwan’s high-speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were reported on its trains, but noted that they will experience delays while inspections are carried out.

Taiwan’s official Central News Agency said that This one earthquake was the biggest to hit the island since 1999when a 7.6 magnitude tremor killed around 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings, in one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded in Taiwan.

To date (03:30 GMT) no reports of human victims or injuries have yet been reported.