Strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake hits southeast of Taiwan, no damage reported
April 26th, 2010 - 2:10 pm ICT by BNO NewsTAIPEI (BNO NEWS) — A strong earthquake struck southeast of Taiwan and south of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands on Monday, seismologists said. There were no reports of damage or casualties and no tsunami warnings were issued.
The 6.5-magnitude earthquake at 10.59 a.m. local time was centered about 245 kilometers (150 miles) south-southwest of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands. It struck about 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake was reportedly felt in southern Japan and in Taiwan, where buildings swayed in Taipei, the capital, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, according to the state-run CNA newswire service.
The USGS initially measured the strength of the earthquake at 6.9 on the Richter scale. The Taiwan Weather Bureay measured the strength at 6.6.
Both the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no danger of a tsunami following the earthquake. “No destructive widespread tsunami threat exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data,” a bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center read.
Taiwan is often struck by powerful earthquakes as it is located in the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”. The island was hit in September 20, 1999 by a 7.6-magnitude quake that caused 2,400 fatalities.
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