An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the open-ended Richter scale rattled the eastern county of Taitung in Taiwan at 6:43 am Wednesday, according to reports reaching here from Taipei.
No casualties have been reported.
The epicenter of the quake was located somewhere in Taitung County at a depth of 10.7 kilometers below the surface.
The temblor had an intensity of 4.0 in downtown Taitung City, with many of the city's residents being shaken awake.
It was the fifth earthquake measuring magnitude 4.0 or greater to hit Taitung this year.
Earthquakes have become more frequent over the past several years, with the number of tremblers this year already the second highest in nine years, behind only the number in 1999 after a magnitude 7.3 quake struck central Taiwan on September 21 of that year, leaving 2,415 people dead and more than 10,000 others injured, said the reports.
(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2002)
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