An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale struck a sea area east of Hualian off the east coast of Taiwan, on Thursday, according to the country's seismological monitoring network.

The tremor occurred at 22:46 PM, with the epicenter of 122.6 east longitude and 24.1 north latitude, about 80 kilometers from the Island of Taiwan.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2006)