Two people died, 21 were injured and one remains missing after the nation was hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake yesterday afternoon that was also felt more than 700km away in Hong Kong.
As of 6pm, hundreds of tourists and residents were still stranded in the Ladder Scenic Area (天梯遊樂區) in Nantou County as roads were blocked by landslides caused by the quake.
The National Fire Agency said that one of the victims was a mountain climber, who was killed by falling rocks on Alishan (阿里山).
Photo: Courtesy of Chang Kai-ming
In Chiayi County, a woman driving a car was struck by falling rocks and lost consciousness, the fire agency said.
She was taken to the Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Dalin Township (大林), the agency said.
Another serious injury occurred in Nantou County’s Jhushan Township (竹山) as a result of falling rocks, it added.
Photo: CNA
The individual was rescued at about 3pm by a National Airborne Service Corps helicopter and taken to a nearby hospital, the agency said.
The agency told reporters that four helicopters had been sent to scout the area near the epicenter as authorities awaited further information.
Both severe and minor injuries were reported in Shueili (水里), Lugu (鹿谷) and Yuchih (魚池) townships in Nantou County, the agency said.
Meanwhile, the earthquake caused massive landslides in mountainous areas in central parts of the country, forcing the highway authority to close some of the nation’s highways.
Train operations were also disrupted by the earthquake, affecting approximately 20,200 passengers of the Taiwan Railway Administration and 50,000 High-Speed Rail passengers.
Several houses in Nantou were damaged by the temblor.
Lu Pei-ling (呂佩玲), deputy director of the Central Weather Bureau’s seismology center, said that the epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred at 1:43pm, was 32km east of the Nantou County Government building.
The epicenter of the quake was in the administrative area of the county’s Renai Township (仁愛), she said.
“Because the epicenter was only 10km below the Earth’s surface at the center of Taiwan, the earthquake was felt nearly everywhere,” she added.
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck in the same area on March 27, with its epicenter 36.9km east of Nantou County Government building.
The epicenter was 19.4km below the surface.
Lu said yesterday’s earthquake may have been an aftershock of the magnitude 7.3 921 Earthquake in 1999.
“The 921 Earthquake was the strongest earthquake in Taiwan in the past 100 years,” Lu said. “A magnitude 7.3 earthquake can cause many aftershocks, which creates tremendous stress beneath the surface of the Earth in Nantou. We believe that both the earthquake in March and the one yesterday were part of the readjustment of the stress caused by the 921 Earthquake.”
Five aftershocks occurred between 1:59pm and 6:16pm, with magnitudes ranging between 3.1 and 4.6.
Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋), director of the seismology center, said that both the magnitude 6.2 quake in March and yesterday’s quake occurred in a blind thrust fault.
Meanwhile, an earthquake jolted the southern Philippines late on Saturday, injuring at least 33 people and damaging more than 140 houses.
The magnitude 5.7 quake rattled North Cotabato Province and nearby areas as people slept, damaging more than 140 houses and several school buildings, and setting off a landslide that partially blocked a road with boulders, officials said.
At least 33 people, including children, were injured by collapsing walls and falling debris in the villages of Kimadzil and Kibugtongan, said Hermes Daquipa, a Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology official, who joined a government team that surveyed the hilly villages.
The quake, which was set off by the movement of a nearby fault, damaged the approaches to two bridges and concrete pipes that cut off water supply to the two villages.
Additional reporting by CNA and AFP
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a