Strong earthquake hits eastern Taiwan, no damage

[News_Editor]

Strong earthquake hits eastern Taiwan, no damage

2010-11-22 05:00:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

TAIPEI (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan on early Sunday evening, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The 6.1-magnitude earthquake at 8.31 p.m. local time (1231 GMT) was centered approximately 21.6 kilometers (13.4 miles) southeast of Hualien City, the capital of Hualien County. It struck about 40.7 kilometers (25.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties as a result of the earthquake, which was widely felt across parts of Taiwan.

Taiwan is frequently rattled by moderate earthquakes, although most are not strongly felt. On April 26 of this year, a strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Taiwan, injuring 96 people and damaging at least 340 buildings throughout the island.

And on September 21, 1999, a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck central Taiwan, killing at least 2,297 people and injuring nearly 9,000 others. The quake, the second-deadliest earthquake in the island's history, also left some 600,000 people homeless.

The only earthquake more deadly than the earthquake in 1999 was a powerful earthquake that struck western Taiwan on April 21, 1935. It left at least 3,276 people killed and injured more than 12,000 others. Railways were left destroyed, iron bridges were fractured and tunnels cracked.

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