A 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Taiwan on Sunday afternoon, causing buildings and a bridge to collapse, with the number of casualties unknown.

The quake struck at 2:44 pm at a depth of 10 kilometers, with its epicenter in Hualien county, the China Earthquake Networks Center said on Sunday.

The quake was felt across the island and also in the coastal areas of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces and Shanghai on the Chinese mainland.

It came just 17 hours after a quake measuring 6.5 hit Taiwan's Taitung county at 9:41 pm on Saturday.

Four people trapped inside a collapsed building housing a convenience store in Hualien's Yuli township had been rescued, Taiwan media reported.

A train carriage was overturned by a fallen shed at a railway station in Hualien, but no passengers were harmed, while a bridge collapse left two people injured. Rescue work is underway, according to local media.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said on Sunday night that the mainland offers condolences to the families of those who died, as well as those injured.

The 6.9-magnitude earthquake equaled the strongest recorded in China this year.

Another 6.9-magnitude quake occurred in Menyuan Hui autonomous county in Qinghai province on Jan 8, and a 6.8-magnitude quake hit the Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan earlier this month.

The Saturday quake caused subway services in Taipei to slow down, and caused the subway network in Kaohsiung to come to a halt. Some trains were delayed, according to Taiwan High Speed Rail.

The tremors on Saturday led to power cuts and water leaks in some residential areas, according to local media.

Xinhua - China Daily