At least four persons were feared dead and nearly 60 were injured on Wednesday by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted.
Officials said the quake and series of strong aftershocks were the strongest to shake the island in decades and warned of more tremors in the days ahead.
“The earthquake is close to land and it’s shallow. It’s felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands,” said the director of Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Centre, Wu Chien-fu.
Strict building regulations and disaster awareness appear to have staved off a major catastrophe for the island, which is regularly hit by earthquakes as it lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.
