Magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocks Taiwan, tsunami warnings issued in the Philippines, Japan
(2nd UPDATE) Taiwan's fire department says that so far one person had died and more than 50 were injured after the earthquake hit the island's east coast
TAIPEI, Taiwan – An earthquake offshore of Taiwan with a magnitude of 7.2 rocked Taipei, the capital, on Wednesday morning, April 3, knocking out power in several parts of the city and sparking a tsunami warning for the islands of southern Japan and the Philippines.
Taiwan television stations showed footage of some collapsed buildings in Hualien, near the quake’s epicenter, and media reported some people were trapped.
The earthquake could be felt as far as Shanghai, according to a Reuters witness.
The epicenter was just off the coast of eastern county of Hualien, in waters off eastern coastline of Taiwan Island, the Taiwan central weather administration said.
Japan issued an evacuation advisory for the coastal areas of the southern prefecture of Okinawa. Tsunami waves of up to 3 meters were expected to reach large areas of Japan’s southwestern coast, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which put the quake magnitude at 7.5.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology also issued a warning for residents in coastal areas of several provinces, urging them to evacuate to higher ground.
Phivolcs later canceled the tsunami warning, saying in a 10:33 am advisory, “Based on available data of our sea level monitoring stations facing the epicentral area, no significant sea level disturbances have been recorded since 07:58 am up until this cancellation.”
The quake was felt in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Ningde in China’s Fujian province, according to Chinese state media.
Taiwan’s fire department said that so far one person had died and more than 50 were injured after the earthquake hit the island’s east coast.
Southern Taiwan Science Park, where semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has a plant, said companies were operating without impact.
Taiwan’s official central news agency said the quake was the biggest to hit the island since 1999 when a magnitude 7.6 tremor killed around 2,400 people. – Rappler.com