11 Dec 2014

Powerful quake hits near Taiwan

11:40 am on 11 December 2014

A strong, 6.1-magnitude earthquake has struck northeast off the island of Taiwan.

A bird's eye view showing Taipei City on 6 September 2013.

A bird's eye view showing Taipei City on 6 September 2013. Photo: AFP / Xinhua / Lu Peng

The epicentre was 106 kilometres northeast of the capital, Taipei.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was very deep - 254 kilometres below the seabed - which would have lessened its impact.

The earthquake struck about an hour-and-a-half ago, at 5.03am on Thursday (local time).

A screenshot from the US Geological Survey showing the location of today's earthquake.

A screenshot from the US Geological Survey showing the location of today's earthquake. Photo: US Geological Survey

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