Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as it lies near the junction of two tectonic plates. It does not issue tsunami warnings unless a quake registers at more than magnitude 7.0.

The US Geological Survey initially estimated the 1:41am (1741 GMT Tuesday) quake to be magnitude 6.9, but downgraded it to 6.6 before finally assessing it back up to 6.7.

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It also revised the depth from an initial 10 kilometres (six miles) to 24km.

The quake hit off Taiwan's east coast — near the island's scenic tourist city Hualien — but was felt over much of the island.

Government-issued alerts sent people's cell phones blaring, and social media lit up with people posting their reactions on being woken up.

"The chandelier on my ceiling shook for more than three minutes and didn't stop," local reporter Chao Li wrote on Facebook.

"It's shaking so much, it scares people to death," he said in an accompanying video.

An AFP reporter also felt their building in Taipei's Zhongshan district shake a few minutes just after 1:41am.

Local media on Wednesday ran footage from grocery stores that showed items flying off the shelves when the quake hit.

Agence France-Presse