Taiwan and the southwestern islands of Japan have been hit by a major earthquake, initially reported as measuring magnitude 7.0 by Taiwanese authorities.

Japanese government agencies meanwhile reported the tremor as a M6.7 quake. The quake hit the Pacific island nations at 11:05 pm Taiwan local time on the evening of December 27.

The epicentre was off the northeast coast of Taiwan in Yilan County, near Turtle Island - itself a dormant volcanic peak - at a depth of just over 70km, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration reported.

The tremors shook the whole island with much of the north, including the capital Taipei recording a level of 4 according to local reports.

Immediately after the first tremor, sirens could be heard over much of western Taipei and New Taipei, home to around 6.5mn in total, but in the hours that followed there were no reports of substantial damage with TVBS World Taiwan reporting in the early hours of Sunday, December 28 that no casualties had been reported and all major roads and train lines remained "operational".

Focus Taiwan also reported that the earthquake was "the strongest since the 7.3 Nantou quake in 1999" and the 2024 earthquake in Hualien County, also on the east coast, that measured M7.2.

Taiwanese authorities have now warned that there may be strong aftershocks in the coming days with reports suggesting these could reach the M5.5-6.0 level.