Two earthquakes measuring 6.6 and 5.7 on the Richter scale respectively rocked Taiwan early Friday, but there was no immediate report of casualties, according to DPA. The first quake, 6.6, struck at 1:51 am Friday (1751 GMT Thursday) with its epicentre 74.6 kilometres from Ilan on Taiwan's northeastern coast, 27 kilometres under the sea, the Seismological Observation Centre said. It was followed four minutes later by an aftershock, 5.7, in the same region. Both quakes were felt all over the island, causing bottles and cups to tumble off shelves and windowframes to rattle. Many residents living in high rises in Taipei ran onto the street, fearing their buildings might collapse. Taiwan lies on the circum-Pacific seismic belt with 68 per cent of the world's quakes hitting this region. Most of the earthquakes which hit Taiwan occur off the east coast, caused by the friction between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Plate, but cause little or no damage. But on September 21, 1999, a quake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hit central Taiwan, killing 2,400 people and leaving some 10,000 injured.
