A powerful earthquake struck the southeastern part of Taiwan, causing a building to collapse

TAIPEI, Sept 18 (Reuters) – A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Taiwan on Sunday, derailing trains and collapsing a convenience store, the island’s meteorological office said.

The Meteorological Center said the quake was in Taitung County, the same region that experienced a 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Saturday evening, which did not cause any casualties. read more

The US Geological Survey measured the quake at 7.2 on the Richter scale and at a depth of 10 km (six miles).

Taiwan’s fire department said two people were trapped and two others were rescued from a collapsed convenience store building in Yuli, while three people were rescued and taken to hospital after a vehicle fell off a damaged bridge.

Three carriages derailed after part of a platform canopy collapsed at Dongli station in eastern Taiwan, Taiwan Railways said. Fire officials said one person was injured.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Taiwan following the tremor, but later lifted the warning. Japan’s Meteorological Agency lifted the tsunami warning for parts of Okinawa Prefecture.

The Meteorological Center said the earthquake could be felt across Taiwan. Buildings shook briefly in the capital, Taipei.

Science parks in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to major semiconductor factories, were unaffected.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (2330.TW)The world’s largest contract chipmaker said there was “no significant impact at the moment”.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.

A 2016 earthquake in southern Taiwan killed more than 100 people, while a 7.3-magnitude quake in 1999 killed more than 2,000.

Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Martin Quinn Pollard, Sam Nussey and Anirudh Saligrama; Editing by Lincoln Feist and Christian Schmollinger

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