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A Taiwanese flag flies in front of the Taipei 101 skyscraper building.

A Taiwan national flag flutters near the Taipei 101 building at the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, May 7, 2023. (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

TAIPEI, Taiwan — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6 struck southern Taiwan early Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, leaving 15 people with minor injuries.

The quake hit at 12:17 a.m. local time (1600 GMT Monday), with its epicenter 7 miles north of Yujing at a preliminary depth of 6 miles, USGS said. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration recorded a magnitude of 6.4.

There were no immediate reports of deaths from the quake, though rescuers were still assessing damage.

Taiwan’s fire department said 15 people were sent to hospital for minor injuries. Among them were six people, including one child, who were rescued from a collapsed house in Nanxi District, Tainan city. The Zhuwei bridge on a provincial highway was reported to be damaged.

Last April, a magnitude 7.4 quake hit the island’s mountainous eastern coast of Hualien, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 1,000 others. The strongest earthquake in 25 years was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.

Taiwan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.

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