A magnitude 6 earthquake hit eastern Taiwan in Hualien County on Monday, the United States Seismological Institute (USGS) said.
No damage or casualties have been reported so far.
The USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers at 9:05 a.m. (01:05 GMT).
A video filmed by a lake showing the ground suddenly shaking violently has been posted on Facebook by a national park in Hualien.
“It’s a really big earthquake….I hope everyone is safe!” the caption reads, adding that the footage was taken by one of the park’s surveillance cameras.
A Taipei-based AFP reporter said he felt the earth shake. The quake was felt across the island, according to local media.
Subway traffic in the capital Taipei was briefly interrupted, according to a passenger.
A tremor of less intensity was recorded about half an hour later, according to the Taiwan Meteorological Service.
“In this (earthquake-affected) area, there have only been two earthquakes over 6.0 magnitude since 1990 and one near 6.0 magnitude,” Chen Kuo said. -chang, head of the Taiwan Central Meteorological Bureau’s seismological center, at a press conference.
“The weakest is today and we think it may be related to activities (at) the fault,” he added.
He said the meteorological office did not rule out further aftershocks above magnitude 5.0 in the next two days.
Taiwan and its surroundings are regularly hit by earthquakes due to their location near the junction between two tectonic plates.
Earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater can cause casualties, depending on where they occur and how deep they are.
The UGSC has rated this event as “green”, believing there is little risk of it causing injury or damage.
According to Chen, the highest number of quakes above magnitude 6.0 was recorded in 1999, with a total of 13.
That year, Taiwan was devastated by the deadliest earthquake in its history, with a magnitude of 7.6 in September, it killed more than 2,400 people.