Taiwan Rattled by Offshore Earthquake, No Reports of Damage

 A woman holding an umbrella walks near a fluttering Taiwanese flag outside the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan November 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A woman holding an umbrella walks near a fluttering Taiwanese flag outside the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan November 16, 2023. (Reuters)
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Taiwan Rattled by Offshore Earthquake, No Reports of Damage

 A woman holding an umbrella walks near a fluttering Taiwanese flag outside the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan November 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A woman holding an umbrella walks near a fluttering Taiwanese flag outside the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan November 16, 2023. (Reuters)

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck off Taiwan's east coast on Sunday, the island's weather bureau said, briefly shaking buildings in the capital Taipei but with no reports of damage.

The epicenter of the earthquake was in the sea off Taiwan's Hualien county, at a depth of 22.4 km (14 miles), the weather bureau said.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.

More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.



Days of Monsoon Rains and Flash Floods Kill at Least 72 in Pakistan

Children playing in the water after a heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Children playing in the water after a heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
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Days of Monsoon Rains and Flash Floods Kill at Least 72 in Pakistan

Children playing in the water after a heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Children playing in the water after a heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Ten days of heavy monsoon rains and flash floods across Pakistan killed at least 72 people and injured more than 130, the National Disaster Management Authority and local officials said Monday.

The fatalities, since June 26, were reported in several provinces: the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eastern Punjab, southern Sindh and southwestern Balochistan provinces, The Associated Press reported.

The National Disaster Management Authority urged local officials to remain on high alert and advised tourists to avoid visiting affected areas, as more rains could block highways and trigger flash floods.

Emergency services have been on maximum alert since last month after 17 tourists from the same family were swept away by the Swat River in the northwest. Four were rescued and the bodies of the other 13 were later recovered. Videos circulating online of the family, stranded on a rooftop and pleading for help, sparked outrage and accusations of slow response by emergency crews.

Authorities have warned they cannot rule out a repeat of extreme weather like the 2022 devastating floods when rains at one point inundated a third of the country, killing 1,737 people.