Revellers had their drinks shaken not stirred just like James Bond when an earthquake jolted a bar.

Footage shows the customers sipping martinis and other cocktails at the late-night venue when a magnitude 6.4 quake shook the building in Taiwan.

CCTV shows the violent tremors causing their drinks to wobble as they sat at the counter at the Alcoholism Altar cocktail bar in Tainan City on January 21 shortly after midnight.

The owner said: 'Everyone stayed very calm. Perhaps they were so drunk they didn't realise it was an earthquake.'

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit 12:17 am local time, with the epicentre 12km north of Yujing.

Taiwan's fire department said 15 people were sent to the hospital, including one child whose family was among those rescued from a collapsed house in Tainan.

Last year, a magnitude 7.4 quake, the strongest in 25 years, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, hit the mountainous coast of Hualien, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than a thousand.

Taiwan is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active zone surrounding the edges of the Pacific Ocean basin. This area is characterised by frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity due to the movement of tectonic plates.

The saying 'shaken, not stirred' was made famous by James Bond, the fictional British secret agent created by Ian Fleming.

The phrase refers to how Bond prefers his martinis prepared - shaken with ice, rather than stirred. It became one of the character's iconic catchphrases.