Tsunami warnings were issued across parts of the Pacific Ocean after a powerful earthquake struck Taiwan early Wednesday morning, killing at least four people.
Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency says a magnitude 7.2 quake struck the eastern county of Hualien, while the U.S. Geological Survey measured it as a 7.4 at a depth of nearly 35 kilometers.
The quake was felt across much of the island, including the capital, Taipei, where several buildings collapsed. Authorities say several people are trapped in the rubble, with Reuters reporting that at least 50 people have been injured.
At least one building in Hualien City, nearly 300 kilometers south of Taipei, is partially collapsed and left tilting at a precarious angle.
The quake was the most powerful to hit Taiwan in 25 years, when 2,400 people were killed and thousands of buildings destroyed or damaged after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in September 1999.
The island’s high speed train service and subway service in Taipei were suspended, but service has gradually been restored. Officials at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s biggest producer of advanced semiconductors, said they evacuated some of its factories, which they call fabs.
Taiwan’s central weather administration said smaller aftershocks could still be felt in Taipei hours after the main quake.
Authorities in Japan and the Philippines have canceled tsunami warnings initially issued after several small waves were detected in the aftermath of the quake. The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement saying that “the tsunami threat has now largely passed.”
The quake was also felt in parts of China, where a spokesperson for the government’s
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office offered relief assistance to the island. Beijing has long claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
