‘Worst earthquake in 25 years’ near Taiwan: at least four dead…

There was an earthquake near the coast of Taiwan on Wednesday that, according to the seismological agency in the capital Taipei, was “the strongest in 25 years” near the island. The material damage appears to be limited.

Taiwan’s fire brigade said one person was believed to have been crushed by falling rocks in the mountainous, sparsely populated eastern province of Hualien, where the quake’s epicenter was. Dozens of people have been injured. At least 26 buildings have collapsed, more than half of them in the city of Hualien.

Public transport has been shut down in various places on the island with 23 million inhabitants. Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC has evacuated its business premises as a precaution. In some regions, Taiwanese people are without power, but there are no large-scale power outages.

Tsunami warnings were issued for Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, but these have now been reversed. A small tsunami already reached the Japanese islands of Yonaguni and Ishigaki in Yonaguni Prefecture.

Wednesday morning’s quake was felt throughout Taiwan and neighboring islands and occurred at a depth of 15.5 kilometers. The Taiwanese Meteorological Institute is talking about an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2. The Japan Meteorological Institute first reported 7.5, but later adjusted this to 7.7. In September 1999, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake killed as many as 2,400 people in Taiwan.