An earthquake of 6.1 magnitudes, measured on the Richter Scale, has jolted Taiwan on Thursday, shaking buildings as well as temporarily blocking subway services in Taipei, the capital, as reported by the United States geological survey (USGS).
According to Reuters news reports, the USGS has said that the earthquake has hit a depth of 10 kilometres and has taken place at 5:05 am. The epicentre of the quake was located around 13-kilometre northeast of a city of Hualien on the east coast of the country.
Taiwan’s state-run media reported there were no immediate issues or casualties or damage. However, the USGS has reported that there were reports of immediate casualties.
In Taipei city, hundreds of people were evacuated from a building, while the others two were badly hit by falling rocks in Hualien city, Taiwan’s government said.
The Central News Agency said while there were reports of small-scale power cuts in some of the districts in Taipei, services and oil refinery plants were operating casually, the government said.
Aftershocks of today’s earthquake of more than 5 magnitudes were likely to occur in coming days, according to the bureau.
President Tsai Ing-wen stated the railway services between Taipei and its neighbouring city of Taoyuan has been temporarily halted.
Tsai, on her Facebook official page, asked officials “to gather information from everywhere to check whether there’s any damage, and if so, to react as soon as possible”.