Several buildings collapsed, people took to the streets, and telecom and power services broke down in some areas. It was reported that a building at the intersection of Taipei's Nanking E.Road and Chilin Road collapsed in the tremors, television showed.

A tower crane being used to construct a skyscraper smashed to the ground, killing one person and hitting a number of vehicles. Afive-storey apartment building in central Taipei collapsed, with five people trapped under the rubbles.

The earthquake, which reportedly lasted for a whole minute and could be felt islandwide, also caused office buildings in Taipei to sway for a few minutes and the city's mass rapid transit rail was suspended for safty.

The epicenter was located in the sea at a depth of 9.6 kilometers and 44.3 kilometers east of the Hsiulin seismic center in the eastern Taiwan county of Hualien, local weather bureau said.

However, according to the China Seismological Bureau, the earthquake was measured at 7.5 on the Richter scale.

Tremors hit the island province of Taiwan frequently, since the island lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in September 1999 killed 2,378 people and destroyed more than 40,000 homes.

Chronicle of Major Earthquakes Hitting Taiwan

Taiwan is located on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin and tremors occur frequently. The tremor rocking the island in September 21, 1999, is said to be the deadliest since a 7.4-magnitude quake hit it in 1935, killing 3,276 people.

The following are major earthquakes hitting the island provinceof Taiwan since 1997:

-- January 19, 1997: an earthquake measuring 5.2 magnitude on Richter Scale hit an area northeast of Ilan in Taiwan.

-- July 17, 1998: a strong earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter Scale hit the central part of Taiwan.

-- November 18, 1998: an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale hit Taitung County of Taiwan province.

-- September 21, 1999: a strong earthquake measuring 7.6 on theRichter scale hit Taiwan, killing 2,400.

-- February 16, 2000: an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale hit Chiayi County of Taiwan.

-- May 17, 2000: an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted Nantou in central Taiwan.

-- June 14, 2001: an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted the sea area to the east of Taiwan's Suao.

-- December 18, 2001: a strong earthquake registering 6.7 on the Richter scale jolted northern and eastern Taiwan.

-- March 31, 2002: an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale rocked Taiwan.

(People's Daily April 1, 2002)