Taiwan jolts by strongest quake in 25 years

Taiwan‘s strongest earthquake in a quarter of a century rocked the island during the morning rush Wednesday, damaging buildings and highways and causing the deaths of four people.

Taiwan’s national fire agency said four people died in Hualien County and at least 57 were injured in the quake that struck just before 8 a.m. The local United Daily News reported three hikers died in rockslides in Taroko National Park near the offshore epicenter.

In the lightly populated eastern coastal city of Hualien, the first floor of a five-story building collapsed and the rest of the building was left leaning at a 45-degree angle. In the capital, Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings and within some newer office complexes, Reuters reported.

Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.4. It struck about 11 miles south-southwest of Hualien and was about 21 miles deep.

Multiple aftershocks followed, and the USGS said one of the subsequent quakes was 6.5 magnitude and 7 miles deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more surface damage.