This was confirmed by the island’s national fire authority on Wednesday.

In addition, numerous buildings suffered catastrophic damage.

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Taiwan on Wednesday, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA), triggering a small tsunami which reached some islands in south-western Japan.

The quake struck at 7:58 am (2358 GMT Tuesday) at a depth of 15.5 kilometres.

The epicentre was about 25 kilometres south-east of Hualien in eastern Taiwan, the CWA said.

It was followed by several strong aftershocks including one of 6.5 magnitude.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the earthquake’s magnitude at 7.4.

Some buildings in Hualien were severely damaged by the violent tremors, local media reported.

In New Taipei city, which surrounds the capital in the island’s north, a warehouse collapsed injuring three people, several media outlets reported.

Damage was also reported in other parts of the island.

According to eyewitnesses, the quake was also clearly felt in Taipei.

Public rail transport was cancelled in several major cities on the island with a population of more than 23 million.

Express train services were also interrupted.

Taiwan’s major semiconductor manufacturer TSMC halted production, according to the Hsinchu Science Park Administration, as did Powerchip.

According to reports, TSMC was checking the condition of its production line after evacuating workers during the earthquake.

The official Nuclear Safety Commission (NUSC) issued a notice at 8:22 am stating that the Maanshan nuclear power plant in southern Pingtung County continued to operate normally after the shock.

A small tsunami reached the nearby Japanese islands of Yonaguni, Ishigaki and Miyako in Okinawa Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological agency said, as it warned of the possibility of larger tsunami of up to one metre.

The US National Weather Service earlier had warned that “based on the preliminary earthquake parameters… hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 km of the earthquake epicenter.”

Around 0200 GMT it issued a notice saying the tsunami threat had passed.

In September 1999, the earthquake-prone Taiwan island, which sits on the boundary between the Eurasian plate and the Philippine Sea plate, was hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that left more than 2,400 people dead.

Source: dpa/NAN

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The Interior Ministry said the number constituted a preliminary death toll and that 153 people had been injured.

A local official said most deaths were in mountain areas that were hard to reach.

Residents of Marrakech, the nearest big city to the epicentre, said some buildings had collapsed in the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and local television showed pictures of a fallen mosque minaret with rubble lying on smashed cars.

The Interior Ministry urged calm, saying in its televised statement on the death toll that the quake had hit the provinces of Al Haouz, Ouarzazate, Marrakech, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant.

Montasir Itri, a resident of the mountain village of Asni near the epicentre, said most houses there were damaged.

“Our neighbours are under the rubble and people are working hard to rescue them using available means in the village,” he said.

Further west, near Taroudant, teacher Hamid Afkar said he had fled his home and felt aftershocks.

“The earth shook for about 20 seconds. Doors opened and shut by themselves as I rushed downstairs from the second floor,” he said.

Morocco’s geophysical centre said the quake struck in the Ighil area of the High Atlas with a magnitude of 7.2.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake’s magnitude at 6.8 and said it was at a relatively shallow depth of 18.5 km (11.5 miles).

Ighil, a mountainous area with small farming villages, is about 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Marrakech.

The quake struck just after 11 p.m. (2200 GMT).

The earthquake is Morocco’s deadliest since a 2004 tremor near Al Hoceima in the northern Rif mountains killed over 600 people.

In Marrakech some houses in the tightly packed old city had collapsed and people were working hard by hand to remove debris while they waited for heavy equipment, said resident Id Waaziz Hassan.

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Footage of the medieval city wall showed big cracks in one section and parts that had fallen, with rubble lying on the street.

Another Marrakech resident, Brahim Himmi, said he saw ambulances coming out of the old town and many building facades damaged.

He said people were frightened and were staying outside in case of another quake.

“The chandelier fell from the ceiling and I ran out. I’m still in the road with my children and we’re scared,” said Houda Hafsi, 43, in Marrakech.

Another woman there, Dalila Fahem, said there were cracks in her house and damage to her furniture. “Fortunately I hadn’t gone to sleep yet,” she said.

People in Rabat, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Ighil, and in the coastal town of Imsouane, about 180 km to its west, also fled their homes, fearing a stronger quake, according to Reuters witnesses.

In Casablanca some 250 km north of Ighil, people who spent the night in the streets were too scared to return to their homes.

“The house rocked aggressively, everyone was scared,” said resident Mohamed Taqafi. “I thought it was only my house that was moving because it’s fragile and old. I heard people screaming, everyone went out of their houses.”

Videos shared on social media of the immediate aftermath of the quake, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed people fearfully running out of a shopping centre, restaurants and apartment buildings and congregating outside.

Source: Reuters

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The 6.4 magnitude quake struck shortly before 4 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, the second powerful tremor to hit the region in two months.

It was centred 10 km (6 miles) northwest of Shijak, between Durres and the capital, at a shallow depth of 10 km, the USGS said.

Unverified video footage posted on social media showed what appeared to be a collapsed building in Durres, 40 km west of Tirana, on the Adriatic coast.

Other footage showed buildings with large cracks and fallen masonry, including one apartment with most of a bedroom wall missing.

“Firefighters and army staff are helping residents (caught) under the rubble”, in Durres and the nearby village of Thumane, a Defence Ministry spokesperson told reporters.

Two government spokesmen told Reuters the biggest damage to buildings was in Durres and a few people had been taken to hospital in Tirana.

​Asked about loss of life, an Interior Ministry spokesman said: “I am told there is not any.”

A Reuters witness described residents fleeing apartment buildings in Tirana, some carrying babies.

Power was down in several neighbourhoods.

Located along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, between Greece and Macedonia, Albania experiences regular seismic activity.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 shook the country on Sept. 21, damaging around 500 houses and destroying some.

The Defence Ministry had said it was the most powerful quake in Albania in the last 30 years.

The Balkan nation is the poorest country in Europe, with an average income of less than a third of the European Union average, according to Eurostat data.

Source:  Reuters

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He said it was a natural disaster that was beyond the power of humans to control.

The president made the remark on Saturday when commiserating with the people of Indonesia.

In a message to the people of the country, Buhari said the natural disaster which claimed nearly 400 lives was devastating beyond description.

He said notwithstanding the distance, the people of Nigeria “remain connected to them by our bond of common humanity, and such bond creates automatic empathy and sympathy for the pains and tribulations of others.”

He said his administration and the entire people of Nigeria were with Indonesia at their “difficult and tough moment when you struggle hard to minimise the impact of this tragedy and in your efforts to provide temporary relief and comfort to the affected victims.”

He prayed for God’s protection against further occurrence and comfort for victims.

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