A strong earthquake occurred off the eastern coast of Taiwan at around 8:58 am on Wednesday, Japan time.

Reports of casualties in Taiwan

Reuters news agency reports that Monday’s earthquake has left one person dead and more than 50 injured in Taiwan, citing information from fire authorities.

NOAA lifts tsunami warnings

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, lifted all warnings at around 11 am Japan time for people in mainland China and Taiwan and along coasts in Japan to be alert for possible tsunami. But it says slight changes in tide levels could continue for several hours.

Tsunami observed

The NOAA says a tsunami of 1 meter was observed in Hualien City, another of 45 centimeters in Chenggong in eastern Taiwan, and one of 21 centimeters in Longdone in the northern city of New Taipei.

The NOAA had also been calling on people in Guam and Indonesia to be alert, noting slight changes in tide levels.

The United States Geological Survey, or USGS, said earthquakes with magnitudes of 5 to 6.7 have continued intermittently since the first earthquake.

Landslide in Hualien, Taiwan

Taiwanese TV station TVBS has been reporting on the situation in Hualien County. It has aired images of a landslide from a mountain with rising dust clouds and walls of collapsed buildings scattered on a road.

It has also shown violent shaking of ceiling-light fixtures and water in goldfish bowls.

TVBS says the disaster in Hualien is believed to be extremely severe, as aftershocks continue to rattle the region. A disaster medical team, or DMAT, has reportedly been dispatched.

Building collapsed

Taiwan TV station TVBS reports that a building collapsed in Hualien County in eastern Taiwan. The first floor has reportedly collapsed, with a motorcycle underneath.

A taxi driver who was at work in Taipei at the time of the quake has told NHK that his car swayed and a female passenger screamed.

He said he also saw what appeared to be tiles on the wall of a building falling along the road.

Tsunami warning issued after earthquake

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, says the quake could cause a tsunami along Taiwan’s coast near the epicenter.

The officials at Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau put the epicenter about 25 kilometers off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan, at a depth of about 15 kilometers. They estimate the magnitude, which indicates the earthquake’s scale, at 7.2.

The quake registered a seismic intensity of upper 6 in Hualien County, and upper 5 in Yilan County in the northeast. It registered lower 5 in Taipei City, New Taipei City, in the north, as well as in Taichung City in a central part of the island.

The Central Weather Bureau is calling on people in coastal areas to be on the alert for sudden changes in sea levels.