A 6.1-magnitude earthquake jolted Taiwan on Thursday,the US Geological Survey said, disrupting traffic and injuring 17 people.
In the capital Taipei, high-rises swayed while some panicked schoolchildren fled their classrooms in eastern Yilan county, according to reports. The quake was felt across the island and a highway connecting Yilan and Hualien was shut down, authorities said.
An official at the Hualien county fire department toldAFP that two people were injured by falling rocks. The National Fire Agencysaid one, a Malaysian male tourist, had been rushed to hospital in a criticalcondition after suffering a cardiac arrest, a leg fracture and head injuries.
The agency added that there were also 15 injuriesreported around Taipei and that two buildings in the city were temporarilyevacuated due to structural damages after the tremor. Taipei's metro system was closed for over anhour for safety checks following the quake, while the Taiwan RailwayAdministration also suspended some of some of its services in the east coastfor several hours, officials said.
The quake struck at 1:01 pm (0501 GMT) at a depth of19 kilometers (11.8 miles) in eastern Hualien county.
The central weather bureau also put its magnitude at6.1. The USGS had earlier measured it as a 6.0 quake, but later revised it to6.1. "The tremor could be felt for 33 seconds, which is considered quitelong … It could be felt all over Taiwan and it's the first quake above 6.0magnitude this year," said Chen Kuo-chang, director of the bureau'sseismological center.
Social media users posted photos of the glasses at arestaurant being shattered by the quake, and of the exterior tiles of adepartment store building falling.
