A magnitude-3.5 earthquake struck the waters roughly 36 kilometers off the Hong Kong coast on Thursday, causing buildings to sway and prompting residents in some neighborhoods to rush outdoors.
The Hong Kong Observatory confirmed the offshore tremor. Police reported no injuries or damage in the immediate aftermath, though radio stations were flooded with calls from concerned residents seeking information.
In the village of Shek O, residents poured into the streets after their homes shook. One longtime Hong Kong resident said her building in the Tai Tam district trembled for about three seconds, noting she had never experienced anything like it in the city despite having lived through earthquakes elsewhere.
Seismic activity is rare in the territory. Observatory records show only six tremors exceeding magnitude 5.0 have struck the area since 1874, and 51 tremors up to magnitude 4.0 were recorded from 1979 onward. Most locally felt quakes originate outside Hong Kong, in Guangdong, Taiwan, or the Philippines.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.