Over 100 Hongkongers report tremors after 7.3 magnitude Taiwan quake

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake was recorded on Taiwan’s southeast coast on Wednesday, with more than 100 Hongkongers reporting feeling tremors, said the Hong Kong Observatory.

The weather watchdog said the quake hit at 7.58 am about 15km southeast of the Taiwanese county of Hualien and had an epicenter spanning 10km.

It said it had received more than 100 reports of people feeling minor shaking for a few seconds.

The Observatory graded local tremors a three on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, meaning they could be felt indoors and resembled vibrations caused by passing light trucks.

Meanwhile, the watchdog said the earthquake is expected to generate a tsunami in the South China Sea, and would reach Hong Kong between noon and 1 pm should it persist, recurring at intervals of 5 to 60 minutes. Yet the impacts to Hong Kong would be small with the tsunami expected to exceed the normal tide level by 0.1 meter, it added.