A powerful earthquake struck off the east coast of Taiwan late Saturday, rattling the capital Taipei but without causing any casualties or damage, according to immediate reports.
The quake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale and struck at 11:51pm with an epicentre around 250 kilometres east of the capital in the East China Sea, the Taiwanese Seismology Centre said. The centre initially estimated the temblor at 6.5 on the Richter scale.
An official from the seismology centre said that the quake's impact was reduced because it struck around 180 kilometres under the seabed.
The US Geological Survey and Hong Kong Observatory both gave the quake as 6.6 on the Richter scale.
Taiwan, lying near the junction of two tectonic plates, is shaken regularly by earthquakes. The country's worst, measuring 7.6 on the Richter sale, struck in September 1999 and left some 2,400 people dead.