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A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake jolted waters near Taiwan’s east coast, on Tuesday, night, killing at least four people and injuring over 200.
The local authority said two more bodies were recovered from building debris, bringing the death toll to four.
Officials previously confirmed two people, a 66-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman, had been killed.
The emergency team said they had rescued about 235 people and 85 people were still unaccounted for as of 1:30 p.m..
Officials said 243 people were also injured in the quake.
Xinhua News Agency said two Chinese mainland tourists are among the injured, one sustains minor injuries and the other is still in unstable condition, both of them are receiving treatment in hospital.
After the earthquake, Director of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council Zhang Zhijun had a telephonic conversation with the head of Hualien, promising to provide emergency assistance and rescue team.
An Emergency response mechanism has also been launched by the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), the earthquake struck waters near Hualien County at around 11:50 p.m. Tuesday (BJT) with a depth of 11 kilometers.
Local media said four buildings including Marshal Hotel, Yun Tsui building and two residential buildings were among the damaged.
The earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks including several measuring over 5-magnitude.
A power outage affected 1,900 households and 40,000 households are without water, according to Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center.
About 40 roads have been damaged and two bridges, including Qixing Tan, sealed off.
Train service to the city center is still available in Hualien but at a slower speed, according to Xinhua News Agency.