Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said the magnitude 5 quake's epicentre was in the east coast county of Hualien. The CWB said the tremor had occurred at a depth of 4.9 miles, 6.3 miles from Hualien.

       A message posted on the CWB's website just before 11.30am GMT warned residents to "beware of probable shaking".

       A statement carried on the VolcanoDiscovery website said: "The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicentre near Hualien City, Hualien, Taiwan, early evening on Wednesday 7 July 2021 at 7:24 pm local time.

       "The exact magnitude, epicentre, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.

       "Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.0 as well.

       "Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicentre.

       "It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc."

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       The website suggested Hualien City (population 350,500) would have felt the quake as "light shaking".

       Weak shaking might have been felt in the cities of Puli (population 86,400) located 43 miles away from the epicentre, Lugu (population 19,600) 56 miles away, and Zhongxing New Village (population 25,500), Nantou City (population 105,700) 100 km away, Yilan (population 94,200), Taichung (population 1,040,700) and Yuanlin (population 124,700), all roughly 60 miles away.

       Taiwan, which is located within the geologically volatile region known as the Ring of Fire, is also on the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, which are converging at 80 mm per year, and is therefore no stranger to earthquakes.

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       Last month, VolcanoDiscovery reported on another quake, also measuring 5.2, centred on Hualien City.

       And in February, another 5.2 magnitude tremor struck 31 miles southeast of Yilan in Taiwan.

       The epicentre was at sea, but many residents in Taipei also felt it.

       Last August, another quake measuring 5.0 hit also struck Hualien, causing "mild shocks" throughout the island.

       A considerably more powerful 6.4 magnitude quake in February 2018 resutled in at least 17 deaths, with 285 people injured, and extensive damage to buldings.

       That tremor occurred on the second anniversary of an even bigger one centred on the city of Tainan, which claimed the lives of 117 people.