05 June 2013

An earthquake measures by Taiwan's Seismology Centre as being 6.3 magnitude struck Taiwan killing one person, injuring at least 18 others and sending people running into the streets. The tremor was centred 32 kilometres east of the central county of Nantou at a depth of ten kilometres and was followed by a series of aftershocks. Households elsewhere in central Taiwan reported cracks on the walls or ceilings falling. It was also felt in Hong Kong, more than 700 kilometres away.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage. Nantou is near the epicentre of a magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck Taiwan in 1999 and killed more than 2,300 people.

Another earthquake, this time measured by US Geological Survey at 6.5, jolted the southern Philippines, injuring at least nine people and damaging dozens of houses. The Philippine archipelago is located in the Pacific’s "Ring of Fire," where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2000 people on the northern island of Luzon in 1990.