A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck just to the northeast of the city of Hualien in Taiwan late on Tuesday, the U.S Geological Survey said, causing a hotel to collapse and forcing the closure of a nearby highway.
The quake struck about 14 miles northeast of the city shortly before midnight, and the epicentre was very shallow at just 1 kilometer, Reuters reported.
An official from the Ministry of Interior's fire station division told Reuters by phone that people were trapped in the buildings in Hualien.
The government said a bridge in the city on Taiwan's eastern coast could not be used, and the structure of an inn had tilted during the earthquake.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck nearby on Sunday.
"The president (Tsai Ing-wen) has asked the cabinet and related ministries to immediately launch the 'disaster mechanism' and to work at the fastest rate on disaster relief work," the president's office said in a statement after the Tuesday earthquake.
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