TAIPEI: A hotel on the east coast of Taiwan has collapsed after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake, the national fire agency said, with reports that several other buildings have been toppled with some people trapped.
Images on local television showed the Marshal Hotel in Hualien slanted on its side, partially crumpled into the ground.
Media reports said there were 30 people trapped inside with others crawling to safety.
The fire agency said a second hotel had also been damaged, with television images showing roads strewn with rubble and cracks in highways.
The quake hit at 23:50 pm (1550 GMT) around 21 kilometres (13 miles) northeast of the port city Hualien, according to the United States Geological Survey.
It follows almost 100 smaller tremors to have hit the area in the last three days.
The quake comes almost exactly two years since a quake of the same magnitude struck the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, killing more than 100 people.
On February 4, a shallow 6.1-magnitude earthquake had hit off the eastern coast of Taiwan. The quake's epicentre was around 15 kilometres (nine miles) north of the port city of Hualien at a depth of around eight kilometres, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) added.
There were no immediate reports of any destruction caused by the tremors. The USGS had said there is "low likelihood of casualties and damage".
"Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are resistant to earthquake shaking, though vulnerable structures exist," the organisation had said.
The 6.1-magnitude earthquake was one of five that struck at a shallow depth in the same area off Taiwan´s eastern coast within two hours of each other on Sunday.
The other four were between 5.2 and 5.5 magnitude, according to the USGS.