At least four killed as magnitude 6.4 quake shakes eastern Taiwan

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the coastal city of Hualien in Taiwan late on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, killing at least four people and causing several buildings to collapse.

The quake struck about 22 kilometres (14 miles) northeast of Hualien shortly before midnight, and the epicentre was very shallow at just 1km, the USGS said.

"The president has asked the cabinet and related ministries to immediately launch the 'disaster mechanism' and to work at the fastest rate on disaster relief work," President Tsai Ing-wen's office said in a statement.

TRT World spoke to journalist Joseph Gorka for this update.

Lai said the government was urgently repairing a major highway damaged by the quake.

A number of aftershocks hit the area, but there was no word of any tsunami warning.

The government confirmed in the early hours of Wednesday that the Marshal Hotel in Hualien had collapsed, trapping three people inside.

Another building also collapsed in Hualien, it added, but did not say whether any people had been trapped there.

Four other buildings, including two hotels, also tilted during the earthquake in Hualien, a popular tourist destination on Taiwan's eastern coast, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of the capital, Taipei.

The government also confirmed that a military hospital had tilted during the earthquake.

Two bridges in the city were either cracked or could not be used, it said.

Hualien is a popular tourist destination on Taiwan's eastern coast and home to about 100,000 people.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck nearby on Sunday.

Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers part of its territory, is prone to earthquakes.

Some people in Taiwan are still scarred by a 1999 earthquake with magnitude 7.6 whose impact was felt across the island and in which more than 2,000 people died. More recently, an earthquake in 2016 in southern Taiwan left more than 100 dead.