A numerical and experimental study has been performed on the flow in a shallow rectangular tank accompanying a vortex shedding. The model is composed of a rectangular tank with a vertical plate with a length half the width of the tank. The tank is subject to a horizontal sinusoidal oscillation. The numerical analysis shows that the pattern of vortex shedding changes considerably when the Reynolds number $R_e$ is varied from 500 to 7500. It is symmetric for $R_e$ <1500 and asymmetric for $R_e$ > 1500. The kinetic energies of the right-hand and left-hand sides of the vertical plate are used to quantify the degree of the asymmetry. Experimental visualization is carried out at $R_e$ = 3876 and 52000. The development of the streamline pattern at $R_e$ = 3876 is in closer agreement with the numerical result at $R_e$ = 1000 than that at $R_e$ =3876. The asymmetric pattern is observed at $R_e$ = 52000.