7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Taiwan, Japan and Philippines Issue Tsunami Warning

Illustration. (Unsplash/Jens Aber)

JAKARTA - An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale off the coast of Taiwan rocked the capital Taipei on Wednesday morning, causing power outages in several parts of the city and triggering tsunami warnings on islands in southern Japan and the Philippines.

Taiwanese television stations showed footage of several buildings collapsing in Hualien, near the epicenter of the earthquake, and media reported several people were trapped, reported Reuters, April 3.

The epicenter was off the coast of the eastern region of Hualien, in waters off the eastern coast of Taiwan Island, Taiwan's central weather agency said.

The Taipei City Government has not received any reports of damage and the city's MRT began operating immediately afterward.

The Southern Taiwan Science Park, where semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. opened a new factory, said the companies were operating without impact.

Taiwan's official news agency said the quake was the biggest to hit the island since 1999 when a magnitude 7.6 quake killed about 2,400 people.

In China, Chinese state media reported that the earthquake was felt in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou, and Ningde in China's Fujian Province.

The earthquake could be felt as far away as Shanghai, according to a Reuters witness.

Meanwhile, Japanese authorities issued an evacuation warning for coastal areas in southern Okinawa Prefecture.

Tsunami waves up to 3 meters high are expected to reach most of Japan's southwest coast, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which put the magnitude of the quake at 7.5.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Seismological Agency also issued a warning to residents in coastal areas of several provinces, urging them to evacuate to higher ground.