Earthquakes shake Taiwan, no immediate damage

(Recasts with quake impact, pvs dateline WASHINGTON)

TAIPEI, July 14 (Reuters) - Two earthquakes minutes apart rattled Taiwan on Tuesday, the Central Weather Bureau said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The epicentre of the stronger quake, which struck at 2:05 a.m. (1805 GMT Monday) measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, and was located 57 km (35 miles) east of Taiwan's coastal city of Hualien, said the bureau.

It was recorded at a depth of 9.3 km, the bureau said on its Web site www.cwb.gov.tw.

It quake came three minutes after another smaller tremor hit Taiwan's eastern Ilan county and measured 4.0 on the Richter scale at a depth of 12.9 km.

The U.S. Geological Survey only reported one magnitude 6.3 earthquake which it said struck 40 miles east of Hualien and was 15.3 miles deep.

USGS said there was no immediate tsunami warning but according to the USGS, earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 62 miles of the earthquake epicentre.

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 Lee Chyen Yee in Taipei and Sandra Maler in Washington; Editing by Sophie Hares)