Quake in Taiwan triggers tsunami; headed towards Philippines

MANILA: A major 7.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Taiwan on Tuesday set off a tsunami warning in the Pacific but there were no immediate reports of significant damage.   

The quake came two years to the day after the Asian tsunami disaster, as jittery nations were remembering the devastation that left 220,000 people dead across the region.  

The US Geological Survey reported two quakes, one of 7.1 magnitude and one of 7.0 magnitude. 

An undersea quake reportedly hit at 8:26 pm just off the southern tip of Taiwan, where authorities reported that two more earthquakes, measuring 6.4 and 5.2 in magnitude respectively, followed shortly after the first one.   

One person in Taiwan died when a furniture shop collapsed in southern Pingtung county, rescue and hospital officials said. Three others were waiting to be rescued.   

Taiwanese television reports showed people in the city of Pingtung rushing into the streets in panic.

High-rise buildings across the island were rattled and telephone services in southern Taiwan were disrupted.   

Japanese authorities said a one-metre tsunami could be headed toward the Philippines, while the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) cautioned nations in the region to be on alert.   

"Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100 kilometres of the earthquake epicentre," the PTWC said on its website. 

"Authorities in the region of the epicentre should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action," it said.  

The Japanese Meterological Agency said the quake was "able to trigger" a one-metre high tsunami that would be on course to hit Basco in the northern Philippines.  

"But since it's been nearly two hours since the quake without any tsunami being observed, the possibility is declining," an agency official said.   

The epi-centre of the undersea quake was believed to be just 23 kilometres off the southernmost point of the island of Taiwan, not far from the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.   

Taiwan, which lies near the junction of two tectonic plates, is regularly shaken by earthquakes.

The country's worst-ever quake, 7.6 in magnitude, killed some 2,400 people in September 1999. 

The latest quakes came two years to the day after a massive 9.3-magnitude quake off the coast of Indonesia set off massive tsunamis that battered countries around the region, leaving around 220,000 people dead. 

It was one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history.   

After Tuesday's alert, there was some immediate confusion about the strength and danger to the region.  

In the Philippines the earthquake set objects swaying in the Batanes islands and in the northern half of the main Philippine island of Luzon, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.  

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said they received a tsunami warning from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, but that it was later cancelled.  

Annie Onie, a tourism aide in Basco, said: "the first we heard of the tsunami was on the news. There was no panic and no one was evacuated from low-lying areas as far as I know."  

Basco resident Oliver Hidalgo said that after the quake, "I went down to the pier (to check for a tsunami) but saw nothing unusual."   

Taiwan's central weather bureau said it only issued tsunami warnings when earthquakes measured more than 7.0 magnitude, and Taiwanese officials said the largest had measured less than that. 

In Hong Kong, residents said they felt their high-rise buildings shake gently around the time the largest quake was said to have hit.