Security camera footage from a bar in Tainan, southwest Taiwan, showed customers continuing to eat and drink as a 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook the room around them.

The 9.4 km (6 mile) deep quake struck a mountainous, rural area of Taiwan's south just after midnight on Tuesday (January 21) morning, near the city of Chiayi.

Reuters was able to independently verify the location with indoors decoration of the bar which matched file imagery of the place.

Reuters was able to confirm the date of the footage by the date stamp seen on screen and corroborating reports on the earthquake

The island's weather administration reported only minor damage.

Tainan, Taiwan's capital city from 1683 to 1887, lies south of Chiayi on the west coast.

The quake also shook buildings in the modern capital, Taipei.

The fire department said a handful of people were trapped in damaged buildings in Tainan, and some had already been rescued.

(Production: Fernando Robles, Ben Dangerfield)