Taiwan’s flooded south rocked by moderate quake

TAIPEI—A moderate earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale rocked Taiwan’s south east coast on Wednesday, officials said, as the region grapples with the island’s worst flooding in recent years.

The trembler hit at 7:22pm local time (1130 GMT) around 70 miles south of Taitung, a major city in the southeast, Taiwan’s Seismology Center said.

The quake struck 18 kilometers (10 miles) beneath the sea, but there was no risk of a tsunami, it said.

“We felt the power of the earthquake, but initial reports indicated that there were no casualties or damage,” an official from the southern Pingtung county’s fire bureau told AFP.

Thousands of people were evacuated in Taiwan on Monday as Typhoon Nanmadol pummelled some of the island’s most densely populated areas, with downpours and fierce winds, causing widespread flooding.