A strong earthquake rocks entire island of Taiwan, collapsing buildings. Tsunami alert issued

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck off Taiwan early Wednesday, rocking the entire island and collapsing buildings. Japan issued a tsunami alert for the southern Japanese island group of Okinawa. Japan’s meteorological agency forecast a tsunami of up to 3 meters, or 9.8 feet. Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.5. Television showed buildings in the eastern city of Hualien shaken off their foundations. The quake came at 7:58 a.m. and could be felt in the capital Taipei.