The dead pair was found in a van that was crushed by a large rock that rolled down a mountain at the Taroko Gorge, a popular tourist spot in eastern Hualien County, according to fire department officials.

They were aboriginal residents living in the area, officials said.

A Canadian tourist visiting the gorge was slightly hurt by a falling rock, they said. Traffic to the scenic spot was partially paralysed as a result of landslides.

The tremor hit at 3:56 pm (0756 GMT) with an epicenter 7.4 kilometersmiles) west of Hsincheng in Hualien and 17.8 kilometers underground, according to the Seismology Center.

"Our car was shaken. At first, I thought that had been caused by a hollow on the road and later heard there had been an earthquake," TV footage showed a tourist in Hualien as saying.

Taiwan, lying near the junction of two tectonic plates, is prone to earthquakes.

The island suffered its worst in a century on September 21, 1999, when a quake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck central Taiwan, leaving 2,400 people dead.

A powerful quake with a magnitude of 6.6 shook Taiwan on December 10, 2003, but caused only minor injuries and damage in some southern cities.

TERRA.WIRE