Strong quake jolts Taiwan on Tuesday
( 2001-12-18 13:39 ) (8 )

A strong earthquake registering 6.7 on the Richter scale jolted northern and eastern of China's Taiwan province on Tuesday, but no reports of damage or injuries were available at this moment, reports from Taipei said.

The quake occurred at 04:03 GMT and was centered about 140 km east of the eastern county of Hualien, the reports quoted a weather bureau spokesman as saying. Other reports said that the subway in Taipei halted operation.

The quake caused office buildings in the provincial capital city of Taipei in the north of the island province to shake for a few minutes, these reports said.

Hundreds of earthquakes struck Taiwan every year, but mostly causing little or no damage. An earthquake registering 7.6 on the Richter scale rocked Taiwan on September 21, 1999, killing 2,400 people and destroyed more than 50,000 buildings.