Bldg collapses as strong quake jolts Taiwan

TAIPEI, Sept 18 (Reuters/AP): A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the sparsely populated southeastern part of Taiwan on Sunday, the island's weather bureau said, derailing train carriages, causing a convenience store to collapse and trapping hundreds on mountain roads.
The weather bureau said the epicentre was in Taitung county, and followed a 6.4 magnitude temblor on Saturday evening in the same area, which caused no casualties.
The US Geological Survey measured Sunday's quake at a magnitude 7.2 and at a depth of 10 km (six miles).
Taiwan's fire department said all four people were rescued from a building housing a convenience store that collapsed in Yuli, while three people whose vehicle fell off a damaged bridge were rescued and taken to hospital.
The Taiwan Railways Administration said six carriages came off the rails at Dongli station in eastern Taiwan after part of the platform canopy collapsed, but the fire department said there were no injuries.
More than 600 people are trapped on the scenic Chike and Liushishi mountain areas by blocked roads, though there were no injuries and rescuers were working to reopen the roads, the department said.
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Taiwan after the tremor but later lifted the alert. Japan's weather agency lifted a tsunami warning for part of Okinawa prefecture.
The quake could be felt across Taiwan, the weather bureau said. Buildings shook briefly in the capital Taipei, and aftershocks have continued to jolt the island.
Science parks in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to major semiconductor factories, said there was no impact on operations.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC) 2330, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said there was "no known significant impact for now".
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.
More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.
The magnitude 6.8 quake was the largest among dozens that have rattled the island's southeastern coast since Saturday evening, when a 6.4 quake struck the same area.
Most of the damage appeared to be north of the epicenter, which Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said was in the town of Chishang at the relatively shallow depth of 7 kilometers (4 miles).
The 70-year-old owner of the building and his wife have been rescued, and workers were in communication with a 39-year-old woman and her 5-year-old daughter still trapped inside.
Photos showed the top two stories sprawled across a narrow street and onto the other side, with electricity wires pulled down by the fallen building.
Police and firefighters rushed to a bridge collapse on a two-lane road in what appeared to be a rural part of Yuli where three people and one or more vehicles may have fallen off, according to media reports.
A canopy on a platform at Dongli station in Fuli town, which is between Yuli and the quake's epicenter at Chishang, hit a train, leaving three of the cars tilted at an angle, the agency said, citing the railway administration.
The ceiling on the 5th floor of a sports center in Taoyuan city collapsed, leaving a 36-year-old man injured.
The shaking was felt at the north end of the island in the capital, Taipei. In Taoyuan city, west of Taipei and 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of the epicenter, a man was injured when a ceiling collapsed on the fifth floor of a sports center.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory for several southern Japanese islands near Taiwan, but later lifted it.