HONG KONG, July 9 (Xinhua) -- A moderate earthquake measuring 5. 2 on the Richter scale struck the east coast of Taiwan on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survay (USGS) said.

The quake hit at 3:43 a.m. local time (1943 GMT Thursday), at about 90 km southeast of Taipei at a depth of 21 km, according to the USGS.