Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Yonaguni, felt across Taiwan as officials warn of possible aftershocks

A strong earthquake struck the waters between Taiwan and Japan’s Yonaguni Island on Wednesday, shaking parts of Taiwan and the southern Japanese islands.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency reported the earthquake at magnitude 6.0, with a depth of around 10 kilometers. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration measured it slightly lower at magnitude 5.9, with a depth of 13.3 kilometers.

Taiwanese authorities located the epicenter about 136 kilometers east of Hualien County, in waters east of Taiwan.

The earthquake was felt across a wide area of Taiwan. Hualien, Yilan, Chiayi, Changhua and Yunlin recorded intensity 2 shaking, while weaker shaking was reported in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and several other areas.

On Yonaguni Island, shaking reached Japanese intensity level 3.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage, and no destructive tsunami threat was reported.

Taiwan’s weather agency said the earthquake occurred in an area where earthquakes of this size are relatively uncommon and warned that magnitude 5 or greater aftershocks could occur during the next three days.