Latest earthquake figures
- At least nine people are confirmed dead.
- Another 882 have been injured.
- More than 70 people remain trapped but are believed to be alive, including some in a coal mine.
- Fifty people on minibuses are missing after phone networks went down.
An earthquake of a magnitude of 7.2 struck off Taiwan's eastern coast at 7:58 a.m. (23:58 GMT) and was felt in Taipei, southern Japan, eastern China, and the Philippines.
At least nine people have been confirmed dead, and over 800 have been injured, with the worst devastation reported in the eastern city of Hualien and the surrounding mountainous terrain. Dozens of people are trapped.
No stranger to powerful quakes
Taiwan is situated along the supposed "Pacific Ring of Fire", the horseshoe-molded line of seismic shortcomings enclosing the Pacific Sea where a large portion of the world's quakes happen.
The region is especially helpless against quakes because of the pressure amassed from the collaborations of two structural plates, the Philippine Ocean Plate and the Eurasian Plate, which might prompt abrupt deliveries as seismic tremors.
The district's bumpy scene can amplify the ground shaking, prompting avalanches.
A few such avalanches happened on Taiwan's eastern coast close to the focal point of the present shake near eastern Hualien Region, while falling flotsam and jetsam hit passages and parkways, pounding vehicles and causing a few passings.
Paula Parente