Powerful earthquake off Taiwan, no casualties
Steph Deschamps / January 3, 2022
A powerful earthquake occurred Monday evening off the east coast of Taiwan, the Meteorological Office said, the tremor was felt in the capital Taipei without immediate casualties or damage reported.
The tremor, with a magnitude of 6 occurred at a shallow depth of 19 kilometers, according to this office which said that no damage was reported at first.
The epicenter was located at sea, 56 kilometers from Hualien city, on the east coast of the island.
The tremor struck at 17:46 .
Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes because the island is located near the junction of two tectonic plates.
In 2018, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Hualien, a tourist mecca, killing 17 people and injuring nearly 300.
The deadliest natural disaster in the island's history occurred in September 1999, when a 7.6 magnitude earthquake killed approximately 2,400 people.