A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southern Taiwan early Tuesday (January 21, 2025), leaving 27 people with minor injuries and some damage reported.
The earthquake occurred at 12:17 a.m. and had its epicenter 38 kilometers southeast of Chiayi City Hall, at a depth of 10 kilometers, Taiwan’s Central Meteorological Administration said. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the earthquake at a less powerful magnitude of 6.
There were scattered reports of minor to moderate damage in the cities of Chiayi and Tainan.
Taiwan’s fire department said 27 people were sent to hospitals for minor injuries. They included six people, including a one-month-old baby, who were rescued from a collapsed house in Tainan’s Nanxi district. The Zhuwei Bridge on a provincial highway was reported to have been damaged.
No deaths have been reported, although rescuers were still assessing the damage.
Two people in Tainan and one person in Chiayi City were rescued unharmed after being trapped in elevators.
The earthquake caused a fire at a printing plant in Chiayi, but it was extinguished and there were no reports of injuries.
Last April, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the mountainous eastern coast of Hualien Island, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 1,000. The strongest earthquake in 25 years was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.
Taiwan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the seismic fault line that surrounds the Pacific Ocean and where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.
Published – January 21, 2025 09:42 am IST
