Earthquake strikes Taiwan, causes damage

The epicenter was about 22.5 kilometers (14 miles) beneath sea level. No injuries or deaths have been reported.

Yilan County:A magnitude 6.0 earthquake caused minor damage in northeastern Taiwan on early Thursday morning as the island braced for the arrival of a severe typhoon.

The country's earthquake monitoring bureau said that the quake struck at 5:28 a.m. on Thursday in the Pacific Ocean about 36 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of the city of Yilan.

The epicenter was about 22.5 kilometers (14 miles) beneath sea level.

No injuries or deaths have been reported.

Taiwan is on a string of Pacific seismic faults known as the "Ring of Fire" and is frequently rocked by tremors, including a 1999 quake that killed more than 2,300 people. It's also frequently hit by Pacific typhoons.

The Ring of Fire is a 40,000 km area in a horseshoe shape in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

The Central Weather Bureau issued a warning on Thursday for residents of Yilan, as well as Taipei and surrounding areas in the north and along the east coast in advance of Typhoon Lekima.

High winds and heavy rain were expected during the day, with the typhoon packing maximum sustained winds of 184 kph (114 mph) gusting up to 227 kph (141 mph).

It was forecast to edge toward mainland China on Friday.