A hotel has collapsed in eastern Taiwan after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the island late on Tuesday.
The quake hit at 11.50pm (3.50pm GMT) around 13 miles northeast of the port city Hua-lien, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Images on local television showed the Marshal Hotel in Hua-lien slanted on its side, partially crumpled into the ground.
Local media reported a number of buildings had toppled with around 30 people potentially trapped in the collapsed hotel, with others crawling to safety or being evacuated.
Collapse: The hotel is pictured less than an hour after the earthquake hit the island nation off the coast of China
Images on local television showed the Marshal Hotel in Hua-lien slanted on its side, partially crumpled into the ground
Destruction: The hotel collapsed after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan late on Tuesday
Rescue workers are pictured as they search through rubble and help people evacuate from the Marshal Hotel in Hua-lien
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes
Pictures posted on social media show the entire hotel leaning to one side as emergency services evacuate people from inside.
Several buildings in Hua-lien were tilting or caved in, according to the country’s official Central News Agency.
The agency also posted photos of a road fractured in several parts, with a video shared on Facebook showing road tarmac popping up after the earthquake.
Taiwanese media reported that in addition to the cave-in on the ground floor of the Marshal Hotel, a separate hotel called the Beautiful Life Hotel is also tilting.
The agency quoted a spokesman of Taiwan’s Executive Yuan, the governing cabinet’s office, as saying that search teams from other areas were headed to Hua-lien.
Citing the national fire agency, Taiwan’s cabinet said another hotel had also been damaged.
Preliminary information suggests the quake was about six miles deep.
Witnesses stand on the street outside the collapsing hotel, while other lower buildings seem undamaged by the earthquake
The surface of a road in Hua-lien, eastern Taiwan, popped up after the earthquake with a number of bridges and roads damaged
Several buildings in Hua-lien were tilting or caved in, according to the country’s official Central News Agency, which also posted photos showing a road fractured in several parts
Rescue workers are seen using a ladder to help someone climb from a window as they respond to the earthquake
Several buildings in Hua-lien were tilting or caved in, according to the Central News Agency.
Another video shared on Twitter showed emergency workers using ladders to rescue people from a pile of rubble.
On Sunday, another five shallow tremors struck within two hours of each other in the same area off Taiwan’s east coast.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes.
The island’s worst tremor in recent decades was a 7.6-magnitude quake in September 1999 that killed around 2,400 people.
Shaken: Images posted on social media show emergency services carrying out evacuations of the hotel in Taiwan
A photo taken at an angle shows how the entire building is leaning to one side
Pictures on social media showed how the earthquake had damaged property indoors
A map made available by the US Geological Survey (USGS) shows a 6.4 magnitude earthquake detected on Taiwan’s east coast