Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau official Lu Pei-ling points to seismograph readings of the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that shook Taiwan on Tuesday. (AP)

Taipei, Dec. 26 (Reuters): Two major earthquakes struck southern Taiwan today, triggering fears of destructive waves as Asia marked the second anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

The quakes, also felt in Hong Kong and southern China, trapped six people when a building collapsed in Taiwan. No other major damage was reported and the tsunami alert was soon lifted.

“The doors of the house shook like the wind was blowing through,” Chen Ruanfen, 21, said by telephone from Shantou in China’s southern Guangdong province.

The US Geological Survey said a 7.1 magnitude quake occurred at 1226 GMT in Taiwan, followed by another of magnitude 7.0 eight minutes later. The depths of both were 10 km under the ocean floor, USGS said.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said the first quake measured 6.7 and was centered 22.8 km southwest of the southern Hengchun Peninsula. The second measured 6.4 was more strongly felt in Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second largest city.

Buildings also shook in the southeastern Chinese coastal city of Xiamen, which lies opposite Taiwan, a resident said. “I felt a very strong shudder and didn’t realise it was an earthquake until I saw people running from the building,” said Xiamen teacher Luo Yuanling. An official from Taiwan’s National Fire Agency said about six people were trapped in Hengchun when a furniture shop collapsed.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said a tsunami of up to one metre might hit the Philippines, although Philippine authorities later said no tsunami had arrived.

Residents in low-lying areas on the northern Batanes group of islands who fled to higher ground could now return to their homes, said Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.