Taiwan has been hit by a 5.2 magnitude earthquake, confirms new seismic data.

       The tremor occurred at 6.58pm local time, 55km (34 miles) northeast of Hualien, a county on the east coast of Taiwan, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) has announced. The depth has been recorded as 40km (25 miles).

       The organisation’s earthquake reporting service, LastQuake, has also received testimonies from residents of tremors 61km (38 miles) north northeast Hualien City, and 48km (30 miles) south east of Yilan - a county in northeastern Taiwan.

       A CNN correspondent, who witnessed the quake, said on Twitter: “I felt the earthquake at my place in Taipei just now. Building shook for a good 20 seconds.”

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       It comes after the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) reported they were closely monitoring unusual earthquake activity in Hsinchu County following a series of 10 earthquakes that occurred last Friday.

       The magnitude of the quakes ranged from around two to four kilometres (one to two miles) while depths were from around five to 10 kilometres (three to six miles).

       CWB seismological centre director Chen Kuo-chang told CNA that if none of the magnitudes reached over four on the Richter scale and the gap between quakes decreased, chances of a major earthquake occurring would be lowered