Shallow earthquake hits southern Taiwan, no casualities

The epicentre of the moderate 5.6-magnitude quake was 19 kilometres (12 miles) from Tainan city.

A shallow earthquake struck southern Taiwan early Saturday, the US Geological Survey reported, a short distance from where a strong quake left more than 100 people dead.

A moderate intensity earthquake hit Taiwan on Feb 11. (Representative image)

The epicentre of the moderate 5.6-magnitude quake was 19 kilometres (12 miles) from Tainan city where a 6.4-magnitude quake last February toppled an apartment complex, burying residents and killing 115.

No deaths were reported following Saturday’s earthquake, which left four people injured in Tainan and Kaohsiung and caused a brief power outage in Tainan’s eastern district, according to the national fire agency.

The quake struck at a depth of nine kilometres, 23 kilometres north-northwest of Kaohsiung, the island’s second-largest city, the USGS said in a statement.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes.

The island’s worst tremor in recent decades was a 7.6-magnitude quake in September 1999 that killed around 2,400 people.