Close to 300 aftershocks have been reported in Hualien following a couple of large earthquakes on Sunday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday.
As of 3pm yesterday, 46 of the aftershocks were felt as earthquakes, which were between 3 and 4 on the Richter Scale, the bureau said.
CWB Seismology Center Director Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋) said the phenomenon was called an earthquake sequence.
PHOTO: CNA
“The earthquake sequence happened because the large earthquake caused a bigger rupture near the epicenter, which in turn triggered seismic activity nearby and thus a series of aftershocks,” Kuo said.
“All these aftershocks, however, are a normal release of seismic energy,” Kuo said. “Both the frequency and the force of aftershocks have reduced since Sunday.”
Kuo said the earthquake sequence was not a new phenomenon in the nation’s seismic history. He also disagreed with statements that the aftershocks were a sign of a large earthquake to come.
Statistics from the bureau showed that the first earthquake of the series occurred in Hualien at 9:26am on Sunday, with the epicenter located about 15km northeast of the bureau’s observation station in Hsiulin (秀林). It measured 4.4 on the Richter scale and induced a couple of aftershocks.
Another earthquake measuring 5.6 occurred at 5:34pm, which was the second-biggest earthquake this year. After that earthquake, Hualien continued to feel aftershocks at a frequency of two to four every hour.
Seventeen aftershocks occurred between 1am and 2am yesterday, measuring between 3 and 4 on the scale. The biggest aftershock occurred at 1:44pm on Sunday, measuring at 4.9.
In related news, Taroko Gorge National Park announced yesterday that rock falls caused by the earthquakes had affected a number of walking paths in the park.
For the safety of visitors, park authorities decided from today to close the Jhueilu Historic Trail (錐麓古道), Changchun Shrine Trail (長春祠步道), Skadang Trail (砂卡礑步道) and Swallow Grotto Trail (燕子口步道) walking paths for two days.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan
RSS