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Powerful quake strikes off south Taiwan
A powerful earthquake struck off southwestern Taiwan on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning on the second anniversary of the waves that killed more than 200,000 in southern Asia.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:00 December 26, 2006
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Taipei, Taiwan: A powerful earthquake struck off southwestern Taiwan on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning on the second anniversary of the waves that killed more than 200,000 in southern Asia.
Two hours later, seismologists lifted the warning, saying the threat of destructive waves had passed.
The tremor was centered at sea about 23 kilometres southwest of Hengchun on the southern tip of Taiwan Hengchun Peninsula and 90 km south-southeast of Taiwan's second city Kaohsiung.
The US Geological Survey said the quake, which hit at 8:26 p.m. (1226 GMT), registered magnitude 7.1, while Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau measured it at 6.7. It was followed eight minutes later by an aftershock registering 7.0, the USGS said.
Two homes in the southern city of Pingtung collapsed, trapping six people, ETTV cable news reported. The quake also triggered fires and gas leaks, the station said.
No deaths were immediately reported. Japan's Meteorological Bureau warned that a one-metre (3.3-foot) tsunami might be headed toward the eastern coast of the Philippines, but later lifted the warning.
"The expected waves did not materialize ... the danger has passed," said Hiroshi Koide of the agency's earthquake section.
Philippine police said coastal areas had been alerted. The quake hit on the second anniversary of a massive earthquake off Indonesia that triggered a powerful tsunami in the Indian Ocean which killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
"There is no reason to raise a tsunami alert because there is no threat," said Anthony Golez, spokesman for the Philippines government's National Disaster Coordinating Committee.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said no Pacific-wide tsunami was expected, although a local tsunami was possible.
Tuesday's quake was felt throughout Taiwan. It swayed buildings and knocked objects off the shelves in the capital, Taipei, in the northern part of the island.
Phone lines were cut in the southern cities of Kaohsiung and Pingtung, possibly hindering reports of damage by residents, the CTI Cable News reported. Several high-rise hotels swayed violently in Kaohsiung, it said.
Quakes frequently shake Taiwan, which is part of the Pacific's 'Ring of Fire', an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Most are minor and cause little or no damage. However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.
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