A powerful earthquake on Wednesday in Taiwan has left at least four persons dead and nearly 60 were injured.
According to the AFP, the director of Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Centre, Wu Chien-fu said that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted.
“The earthquake is close to land and it’s shallow. It’s felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands.”
Strict building regulations and disaster awareness appear to have staved off a major catastrophe for the island, which is regularly hit by earthquakes as it lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.
Wu said the quake was the strongest since one of 7.6-magnitude struck in September 1999, killing around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island’s history.
Wednesday’s magnitude-7.4 quake struck just before 8:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT), with the United States Geological Survey putting the epicentre 18 kilometres (11 miles) south of Taiwan’s Hualien City, at a depth of 34.8 kilometres.
“I wanted to run out, but I wasn’t dressed. That was so strong,” said Kelvin Hwang, a guest at a hotel in the capital, Taipei, who sought shelter in the lift lobby on the ninth floor.”
