This is the heartwrenching moment two parents protected their baby as a powerful magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook buildings in Taiwan, injuring at least 15 residents.

Baby monitor CCTV from inside a family's home captures the mother and father being woken as the room shakes in Tainan City on January 21 shortly after midnight.

They both leapt to the baby's cot and lay on top of him to protect against any potential falling debris or the infant being tossed onto the floor. None of them were injured by the tremors'

The mother said: 'The whole building shook really hard. My husband held me first, and then when we felt it was getting strong, we both jumped together over to our baby. It was so scary that I almost cried. The tremors were so strong I screamed.'

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.