TAIPEI: A 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, with local authorities reporting three people briefly trapped in a collapsed house and two stuck in elevators.
The shallow quake caused buildings in the capital Taipei to shake as it struck at 00:17 am (1617 GMT) 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) north of Yujing, a mango-growing district in southern Taiwan.
No major damage was reported.
Local fire authorities rescued three people, including a child, who were trapped in a house that collapsed in another district near the epicentre.
Elsewhere, a person was injured by falling debris while two people were reported trapped in elevators, authorities said.
In Chiayi City, about 40 kilometres north of Yujing, CCTV footage inside a nut shop that was shared on Threads and verified by AFP showed shelves swaying and goods falling to the floor.
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An AFP journalist in Taipei felt their residential tower shake for nearly a minute.
Taiwan is frequently hit by earthquakes due to its location on the edges of two tectonic plates near the Pacific Ring of Fire, which USGS says is the most seismically active zone in the world.
The last major earthquake occurred in April 2024 when the island was hit by a deadly 7.4-magnitude tremor that officials said was the strongest in 25 years.
At least 17 people were killed in that quake, which triggered landslides and severely damaged buildings around Hualien.
April’s earthquake was the most serious in Taiwan since it was struck by a 7.6-magnitude tremor in 1999.
Some 2,400 people died in that quake, making it the deadliest natural disaster in the island’s history.
Since then, Taiwan has updated and enhanced its building code to incorporate quake-resistant construction methods, such as steel bars that allow a building to sway more easily when the ground moves.
Some major buildings that were designed before the 1999 quake were already incorporating features to guard against shaking.
The government also requires the reinforcement of structures built before the updated codes were introduced.
These older buildings are often the main cause for concern during earthquakes. There were complaints as recently as 2018 about a lack of funding for reinforcing such structures.
Famous for its cutting-edge tech firms, Taiwan has built up an advanced early warning system that can alert the public to potentially serious ground shaking within seconds.
The system has been enhanced over the years to incorporate new tools such as smartphones and high-speed data connectivity, even in some of the most remote parts of the island.
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