The magnitude 6.7 quake - the biggest to hit Taiwan so far this year - was an aftershock of last year's devasting temblor, seismologists at the Central Weather Bureau said.

 Its epicenter was located 47 kilometers north of Yushan (Jade Mountain) in central Nantou County.

 No serious damage to property was reported, but numerous mountain roads were cut off by fallen rocks and mudslides. With heavy rains forecast for the next two days, more landslides are feared on slopes left vulnerable by the recurrent quakes of the past ten months.

 With an eerie symmetry to the Sept 21, 1999 quake, residents of central Taiwan were rocked awake in the early hours of the morning. Most fled their homes in terror and remained outside all night as aftershocks measuring up to 5.1 continued to strike.

 Two male patients at Puli Veterans Hospital in Nantou County died of heart attacts brought on by the shock, disaster relief officials said.

 The injured included four teenage motorcylists hit by falling rocks on the mountainous Puli Wushe road, and four separate cases of broken bones or grazes incurred by panicked residents who jumped from windows or balconies. Most injuries were reported in Nantou, Taichung and Changhua counties, and most were minor.

 Nantou County's Jenai township was briefly hit by a blackout, but power was restored about 20 minutes later, officials said.

 No damage was reported in other parts of the Island, although the quake and its aftershocks were left from Kaohsiung to Taipei.

 Premier Tang Fei, conducting an ad hoc news conference from the Veterans General Hospital where he is still recovering from surgery, instructed the army and relevant government agencies to take immediate disaster relief action.
 
 

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