Earthquake hits Taiwan, knocks out power

[vivfox]

Strong quake hits Taiwan, knocks out power
At least 1 injury reported but no major damage; rail service halted


TAIPEI - A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan on Thursday morning causing buildings to sway hundreds of miles to the north. Local news reports said at least one person was injured.

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 8:18 am (0018 GMT), was in mountains around the southern city of Kaohsiung at a depth of 5 km (3 miles), the Central Weather Bureau said. Kaohsiung is about 249 miles (400 kilometers) south of the capital Taipei.

Residents in Taipei could feel buildings shake, and the quake caused power outages. The island's high-speed rail service was suspended, Taiwan's cable news stations reported.

No tsunami alert was issued.

A Kaohsiung official told the CTI news station some temporary shelter housing shelters, erected in the wake of a devastating typhoon last summer, collapsed as a result of the quake.

Taiwan still uses the Richter scale to measure earthquake intensity. The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 6.4, revised from an initial 6.5, and put the depth at 35 km (22 miles).

Earthquakes occur frequently in Taiwan, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin.

One of Taiwan's worst-recorded quakes occurred in September 1999. Measuring 7.6, it killed more than 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35698325...ws-asiapacific