TAIPEI, Taiwan—The sparsely populated southeastern part of Taiwan was rocked by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 18, the island’s weather bureau said, derailing train carriages, causing a convenience store to collapse, and trapping hundreds on mountain roads.
The epicenter was in Taitung county, and followed a 6.4 magnitude temblor a day earlier in the same area, which caused no casualties, the weather bureau said.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially measured the Sept. 18 quake at a magnitude of 7.2 and a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) before downgrading it to 6.9.
Taiwan’s fire department said four people were rescued from a building housing a convenience store that collapsed in Yuli, while three people whose vehicle fell off a damaged bridge were rescued and transported to a hospital.
The Taiwan Railways Administration said six carriages came off the rails at Dongli station in eastern Taiwan after part of the platform canopy collapsed; the fire department said there were no injuries.
More than 600 people were trapped on the scenic Chike and Liushishi mountain areas because of blocked roads, though there were no injuries and rescuers were working to reopen the roads, the department said.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Taiwan after the tremor but later lifted the alert. Japan’s weather agency lifted a tsunami warning for part of Okinawa prefecture.
The quake could be felt across Taiwan, the weather bureau said. Buildings shook briefly in the capital Taipei, and aftershocks have continued to jolt the island.
Science parks in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to major semiconductor factories, said that operations weren’t affected.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said there was “no known significant impact for now.”
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.
More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake left more than 2,000 people dead in 1999.
