Six earthquakes, including one with a magnitude of 5.4, struck off the nation’s east coast early yesterday, the Seismology Center said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties and no tsunami warning.
The moderate magnitude 5.4 quake hit shortly after midnight, 35km southeast of Silin Village (西林), Hualien County, with its epicenter at a depth of 27km.
The other more minor quakes struck off Yilan City.
Meanwhile, the Central Weather Bureau said that a tropical low pressure system had formed near the Paracel Islands on Saturday. While the system was likely to turn into a tropical storm, the bureau said it was unlikely to hit Taiwan.
Bureau forecaster Huang Treng-shi (黃椿喜) said the pressure system was 900km off the southwest coast of Hengchun (恆春), Pingtung County. It was moving northwesterly at a speed of 15kph.
As at press time it had yet to become a tropical storm. Huang said the bureau estimated it would continue to move northwesterly to somewhere near China’s Hainan Province even after it turns into a tropical storm.
While Taiwan may be spared from the threat of the tropical storm, the bureau said the chance of showers was high in eastern regions, southern regions, the Hengchun Peninsula and Taipei. Chances of afternoon showers were also high in central Taiwan, the bureau said.
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