Earthquake gives northern Taiwan a big jolt

A strong earthquake rattled the nation yesterday, hurting a three-year-old boy who was injured by a falling television set and a man who suffered a head injury.

There were no other injuries reported and damage to buildings weren't serious.

The quake, which measured 6.2 on the Richter scale, struck at 11:46am yesterday and was followed by a series of aftershocks.

According to the Central Weather Bureau, the epicenter was located 9.3km northeast of Suao (蘇澳) in Ilan County and 5km below the surface.

In Taipei, the temblor measured 4 on the Richter scale. In Keelung, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli and Nantou the quake registered at 3.

Kuo Kai (郭鎧), a director at the bureau's earthquake forecasting center, said yesterday's quake was an aftershock of the March 31 temblor that left five people dead.

"There have been hundreds of aftershocks in the northeast area of Taiwan since the major quake on March 31," Kuo said. "We expect more ranging between 4 and 5 in the near future."

According to seismic reports, more than 70 aftershocks followed within 30 minutes of yesterday's temblor.

Parts of an Ilan home collapsed. Taipei's MRT system was shut down for nearly two hours as officials from the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp looked for damage.

According regulations, train carriages must stop for at least five minutes if there's a quake weaker than 3 on the Richter scale. Passengers are evacuated and the system is shut down for safety checks.

For quakes stronger than 4 on the Richter scale, the MRT system is closed for at least 90 minutes. Technicians inspect all equipment and do a walk-through of the MRT's tunnels.

On March 31, five workers at the construction site of the Taipei Financial Center died in a quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale.

Work on the building, which will be the world's tallest when completed, had been stopped since then but was scheduled to resume at 2pm yesterday.

Despite yesterday's quake, officials from the Taipei City Government gave the greenlight for construction to resume from the 23rd floor and below.

As for the rest of the 101-story building, which now stands at 56 stories, no date for the resumption of work was given.

Officials from Taipei's Bureau of Public Works said homeowners concerned about quake damage could request inspections of their homes. For more information, call (02)2725-8387.