Earthquake rocks Taiwan

Furniture and pictures sway in this building in southern Taiwan during a powerful earthquake on Sunday.

The quake's epicenter was in Pingtung County - 54 kilometres from the country's second largest city of Kaohsiung.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau put the earthquake's strength at 6.1 on the Richter Scale, while the U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 5.9.

One shopkeeper describes what happened.

(SOUNDBITE) (Taiwanese) UNIDENTIFIED SHOP OWNER, SAYING:

"There were some sounds when the earthquake hit, all my customers ran away from my store."

Local media reported that Kaohsiung's subway service was temporarily suspended, and the island's high-speed railway was also stopped for at least an hour, but the earthquake only caused minor damage.

Earthquakes are a frequent occurrence in Taiwan, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific Basin.

Travis Brecher, Reuters