A powerful earthquake has hit southern Taiwan.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 shook Taiwan on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, officials said.

While the U.S. State Department is advising Americans to avoid non-esstential travel to Chile in the aftermath of Saturday's 8.8 magnitude earthquake, local officials and tour operators say much of the country's tourism infrastructure escaped with little or no damage.

If anyone will play a crucial reconstruction role after the 8.8 Chile earthquake it is the Rev. Felipe Berrios, a Jesuit priest whose award-winning organization has in less than 15 years nearly gotten all Chilean families into permanent housing and expanded its work to 16 countries across Latin America.

The powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake that rocked Chile was strong enough to shift the planet's axis by 3 inches, and came soon after the catastrophic magnitude 7.0 quake that devastated Haiti and right after a magnitude 7.0 event hit off the coast of Japan.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits Taiwan.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Taiwans southern county of Kaohsiung at 8:18 a.m. local time, the islands Central Weather Bureau said on its Web site. There were no immediate reports of damage. Its epicenter was 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) south east of the Chia-hsien Town and 5 kilometers under the sea, it said.

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- An earthquake shook buildings in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The temblor struck at around 8:19 a.m. No damage was immediately reported.

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Taiwans southern county of Kaohsiung at 8:18 a.m. local time, the islands Central Weather Bureau said on its Web site. There were no immediate reports of damage.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 3 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they're helping Haitians prepare for reconstruction and long-term earthquake monitoring in the wake of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.