Powerful Taiwan earthquake kills 2, injures more than 200 others

Last Updated Feb 6, 2018 3:43 PM EST

BEIJING -- At least two people were killed and more than 200 others injured after a magnitude-6.4 earthquake struck late Tuesday near the coast of Taiwan, authorities said. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck about or 13 miles northeast of Hualien, on the island's east coast.

Taiwan's official Central News Agency reports the ground floor of the Marshal Hotel, a building in Hualien district, had caved in and people were believed to be trapped inside. The agency posted photos showing a road fractured in several parts.

Taiwanese media reported that aside from the cave in on the ground floor of the Marshal Hotel, a separate hotel known as the Beautiful Life Hotel, is tilting.

TAIWAN-EARTHQUAKE — Rescue workers search through rubble outside the Marshal Hotel in Hualien, eastern Taiwan early February 7, 2018, after a strong earthquake struck the island. A hotel on the east coast of Taiwan has collapsed after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake, the government said.
STR/AFP/Getty

"We know there are people who are trapped inside -- we can see lights inside the hotel," witness Zeena Starbuck told BBC News. "People with phones are shining their lights to let people know they're there."

Tuesday night's quake followed one over the weekend off the coast of Hualien on the east of Taiwan, which lies along the famed "Pacific Rim of Fire" known for seismic activity from Alaska to Southeast Asia.

The quake came exactly two years after a magnitude-6.4 quake struck southern Taiwan, causing the collapse of an apartment complex and the deaths of 115 people.

Five people involved in the construction of the complex were later found guilty of negligence and given prison sentences.