( CNN ) -- Aftershocks rattled southern Taiwan in the hours after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook the island , but left it relatively unscathed . Thursday morning 's quake was followed by more than 15 aftershocks , the largest reaching 4.8 . Taiwan 's interior ministry reported 12 minor injuries -- nine in Kaohsiung county , two in Jia Yi county and one in Tainan county . The quake struck about 8:20 a.m. ( 7:20 p.m. Wednesday ET ) in a mountainous region about 25 miles northwest of Taitung , on the southeast coast , and 40 miles east of Tainan and Kaohsiung on the southwest coast . The region includes Taiwan 's Maolin National Scenic Area and is still recovering from a direct hit by Typhoon Morakot that killed hundreds in August . The typhoon dumped more than two feet of rain , causing serious mudslides in the south , including one that buried the village of Shiao Lin under 50 feet of mud . Shuo Hong , an orthopedic surgeon in Taipei , about 155 miles away from the epicenter , felt the earthquake during a meeting at a hospital . `` We were debating whether or not to run for shelter , but the hospital is safe , '' he said `` It is built to resist a 7.0-magnitude earthquake . `` It was shaking for about 20 to 30 seconds , shaking more than what we expected , '' Hong said . Were you there ? Did you feel it ? The Taiwan Ministry of Interior and the National Fire Agency said electricity was cut off in parts of Kaohsiung county , Jia Yi city and Jia Yi county . Taiwan 's official news agency reported that a fire broke out in Jia Yi city . Residents in southern Taiwan reported cracks in some buildings and major bridges . Train service was also disrupted in some areas , Taiwanese media reported . Two small hotels near the epicenter that were contacted by CNN reported no damage , though the buildings shook for a few seconds during the quake . Albert Yu , communications manager of the humanitarian organization World Vision , told CNN he was about half-way through a 90-minute trip via high-speed train from Taipei to Tainan when the quake struck . Passengers did not feel the quake , he said , but operators stopped the train and announced what had happened before inspecting the tracks for stability . During the delay , Yu said people were calm , `` opening laptops ... and chatting with people around them . '' Yu said World Vision `` has already been on high alert responding to the quakes in Haiti and Chile , so we 're closely monitoring reports in the earthquake in southern Taiwan . '' Residents in Taipei , the capital , also felt the shaking . Earthquakes are far from uncommon on the nearly 14,000-square-mile island -- about the size of the U.S. states of Maryland and Delaware combined -- which sits across the juncture of the Eurasian and Philippine tectonic plates . A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the same general region in December . The island took a double hit on December 26 , 2006 , when earthquakes of 7.1 and 6.9 magnitude hit eight minutes apart . The largest recorded quake to strike Taiwan was an 8.0-magnitude quake in 1920 , but the worst earthquake disaster stemmed from a 7.1-magnitude quake in 1935 that killed more than 3,200 people -- followed by a 6.5-magnitude quake that killed more than 2,700 people three months later . More recently , a 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,400 people in 1999 . CNN 's Christine Theodorou and Journalist Andrew Lee contributed to this report .
NEW : Quake followed by more than 15 aftershocks , the largest reaching 4.8 . 6.4 quake rocks southern Taiwan at about 0120 GMT ; no immediate reports of deaths . Quake hits northwest of Taitung , on the southeast coast . Residents in southern Taiwan report blackouts ; train services disrupted .