The tremor struck at 1:51 pm (0551 GMT) with an epicenter 16.8 kilometers (10.42 miles) southeast of Hsilin in eastern Hualien County, the Seismology Center said.

The tremor originated 54.1 kilometers below the sea level, it said.

Taiwan, lying near the junction of two tectonic plates, is prone to earthquakes. The island suffered its worst quake in a century when a temblor measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit central Taiwan on September 21, 1999, leaving 2,400 people dead and some 100,000 homeless.

TERRA.WIRE