Taiwan: 7.4 magnitude quake kills at least nine, injures over 900

At least nine people were killed and more than 900 injured Wednesday by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted, reports AFP.

Dozens of people were believed safe but unreachable in areas cut off by massive landslides triggered by the quake - many in tunnels that cut through the mountains that bisect the island from north to south.

Officials said the quake was the strongest to shake the island in decades, and warned of more tremors in the days ahead.

Strict building regulations and widespread public disaster awareness appear to have staved off a major catastrophe for the earthquake-prone island, which lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.

"We were very lucky," said a woman surnamed Chang, who lived next door to a printing press warehouse near the capital that virtually pancaked in the quake, but all 50 inside at the time were plucked to safety.

"Many of the decorations at home fell on the floor, but people were safe."

Wu Chien-fu, director of Taipei's Central Weather Administration's Seismology Center, said the quake was the strongest since one of 7.6-magnitude struck in September 1999, killing around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island's history.

Wednesday's magnitude-7.4 quake hit just before 8:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT), with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) putting the epicenter 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of Taiwan's Hualien City, at a depth of 34.8 kilometers.

Three people among a group of seven on an early-morning hike through the hills that surround the city were crushed to death by boulders loosened by the earthquake, officials said.

Separately, the drivers of a truck and a car died when their vehicles were hit by tumbling rocks, while another man died at a mine quarry.