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A strong earthquake hits near Taiwan, tsunami alert issued

EARTHQUAKE
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TAIWAN — A powerful earthquake rocked the entire island of Taiwan early Wednesday, collapsing buildings in a southern city and creating a tsunami that washed ashore on Japanese islands.

Television showed buildings in the city of Hualien shaken off their foundations.

Islandwide train service was suspended, as was subway service in Taipei.

Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.5. The depth was about 21 miles.

The Japan Meteorological Agency forecast a tsunami for the southern Japanese island group of Okinawa. A wave of about 1 foot was detected on Yonaguni island.