Thread: 6.4 magnitude quake hits southern Taiwan UPDATED

6.4 magnitude quake hits southern Taiwan

March 3, 2010 7:48 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked southern Taiwan Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage, injuries or deaths.

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6-4-magnitude quake hits southern Taiwan

March 3, 2010 8:45 p.m. EST

This map shows where the 6.4 quake struck Taiwan on Thursday morning.

(CNN) -- A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rattled southern Taiwan on Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage, injuries or deaths.

The quake struck at about 8:20 a.m. (7:20 p.m. Wednesday ET) in a mountainous region about 25 miles northwest of Taitung, on the southeast coast, and 40 miles east of Tainan and Kaohsiung on the southwest coast.

The region includes Taiwan's Maolin National Scenic Area.

The quake was followed by several aftershocks, the largest reaching a 4.8 magnitude. The initial 6.4 quake rumbled to the surface from 14 miles deep.

The Taiwan Ministry of Interior and the National Fire Agency said electricity was cut off near the epicenter but had no further information.

Residents in southern Taiwan reported cracks in some buildings and major bridges. Train service was also disrupted in some areas, Taiwanese media reported.

Residents in the capital Taipei, 155 miles to the north, also felt the shaking.

Earthquakes are not uncommon in the 13,892-square-mile island -- about the size of the U.S. states of Maryland and Delaware combined -- which sits across the juncture of the Eurasian and Philippine tectonic plates.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the same general region in December. The island took a double hit on December 26, 2006, when earthquakes of 7.1 and 6.9 magnitude hit eight minutes apart.

The largest recorded quake to strike Taiwan was an 8.0 magnitude quake in 1920, but the worst earthquake disaster stemmed from a 7.1 magnitude quake in 1935 that killed more than 3,200 people -- followed by a 6.5 magnitude quake that killed more than 2,700 people three months later.

More recently, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,400 people in 1999.

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