BSS :
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck off the coast of Taiwan early Wednesday rattled buildings and roused people from their sleep, leaving one injured and causing a half-constructed bridge in the island’s east to collapse.
Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as it lies near the junction of two tectonic plates. It does not issue tsunami warnings unless a quake registers at more than magnitude 7.0. The US Geological Survey initially estimated the 1:41 am (1741 GMT Tuesday) quake to be magnitude 6.9, but downgraded it to 6.6 before finally assessing it back up to 6.7.
It also revised the depth from an initial 10 kilometers (six miles) to 24 km.The quake hit off Taiwan’s east coast — near the island’s scenic tourist city Hualien — but was felt over much of the island. Government-issued alerts sent people’s cell phones blaring, and social media lit up with people posting their reactions on being woken up.
“The chandelier on my ceiling shook for more than three minutes and didn’t stop,” local reporter Chao Li wrote on Facebook.
