Taiwan Earthquake: Derails train, Triggers Tsunami Warning

GUWAHATI: A strong earthquake of 6.8 magnitude hit the southeast coast of Taiwan on Sunday. The tremors triggered a three-storey building and temporarily trapping four people inside, stranding about 400 tourists on a mountainside, and knocking part of a passenger train off its tracks. One person died and nine people have reported minor injuries, Taiwan's Emergency Operations Centre said.

The magnitude 7.2 quake was the largest among dozens that have rattled the island's southeastern coast since Saturday evening when a 6.4 quake struck the same area.

Moreover, Most of the damage appeared to be north of the epicentre, which Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said was in the town of Chishang at the relatively shallow depth of 7 km (4 miles).

In Hualien's Yuli township, the quake caused a three-story 7-Eleven convenience store building to collapse. Four people who were trapped in the building were rescued, the Hualien fire department was quoted as saying by AFP. Two other buildings in the town collapsed but no one was inside them. Two nearby bridges collapsed while two others were damaged, the report said.

More than 7,000 households were reported without power in Yuli, and water pipes were also damaged. Shelves and musical instruments fell over at the Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church and a long crack ran down its floor. Outside, the pavement was broken into slabs of concrete.

Police and firefighters rushed to a bridge collapse on a two-lane road in what appeared to be a rural part of the same town where three people and one or more vehicles may have fallen off, according to reports.

Also in Yuli, a landslide trapped nearly 400 tourists on a mountain famous for the orange daylilies that blanket its slopes this time of year, the Central News Agency said. They had no electricity and a weak cellphone signal.

Debris from a falling canopy on a platform at Dongli station in Fuli town, which is between Yuli and the epicentre at Chishang, hit a passing train, derailing six cars, the Central News Agency said, citing the railway administration. None of the 20 passengers was injured.

Also, the shaking was felt at the north end of the island in the capital, Taipei. In Taoyuan city, west of Taipei and 210 km (130 miles) north of the epicentre, a man was injured by a ceiling collapse on the 5th floor of a sports centre. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory for several southern Japanese islands near Taiwan but later lifted it.

Also read: 13 Killed, 10 Missing After Landslides Hit Nepal

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