Strong Earthquake Jolts Central Taiwan
A mountain climber is reported killed as the earthquake sends people running into the streets and sways buildings in the capital.
9:10am Sunday 02 June 2013
Buildings swayed in the capital Taipei
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck the island of Taiwan, killing one person and shaking buildings in the capital Taipei, news reports said.
The quake in central Taiwan caused some damage and sent residents running into the streets.
The AFP agency said a mountain climber was killed after he was hit by falling rocks on Mount Ali in central Taiwan.
TV footage showed landslides, stirring clouds of yellow dust, on other mountains in the area.
The tremor struck about 35 kilometres (22 miles) east of Nantou County at a depth of 10 kilometres (6 miles).
The US Geological Survey had originally put the magnitude at 6.6 but later downgraded it.
Taiwan television said the quake had triggered a gas explosion in the centre of the island but it gave no details.
Shoppers screamed and ran out of a 12-storey department store that shook violently for nearly a minute, TV stations reported from the central city of Taichung, near the epicentre.
Six high-speed trains halted but services resumed after no damage was found to the line.
The quake also rattled the island's capital of Taipei, about 150 miles (250 kilometres) north of the epicentre.
"The house was shaking but nothing fell," said one resident of the city.
The island sits near the so-called ring of fire region of seismic activity around the Pacific Ocean, and is frequently rattled by quakes.
A magnitude-7.6 earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.
