Quake rattles north Taiwan, no reports of damage

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A moderate earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale rattled northern Taiwan on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 6:54 a.m. (1054 GMT) was about 46 km east of the northeastern Ilan county, at a depth of 4 km, the Central Weather Bureau said in a statement.

Earthquakes occur frequently in Taiwan, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin.

One of Taiwan's worst-recorded quakes occurred in September 1999. Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, it killed more than 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings.

(Reporting by Richard Dobson, Editing by Ken Wills)