An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale rattled the country yesterday at 2.05am, waking many from their slumber, but causing no injuries or deaths.
“The power released by the earthquake was equivalent to that generated by the explosion of about 1.5 atomic bombs,” said Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋), director of the Seismological Center at the Central Weather Bureau.
The bureau recorded two earthquakes early yesterday morning.
PHOTO: AFP
The first, measuring 4.0, struck at 2:02am, with the epicenter located southwest of the weather bureau’s station in Nanao (南澳), Ilan County.
The epicenter was 12.9km deep and the highest intensity was reported in Taroko Gorge and in Nanao.
The second quake, measuring 6.3, struck off the coast near the bureau’s station in Hsiulin (秀林), Hualien County, at a depth of 9.4km. The temblor was felt nationwide, with the highest intensity in Nanao, where it was felt as a 4.0. In Taipei City it registered as a 3.0.
Kuo said the two temblors were separate earthquakes that occurred independently of each other.
The second earthquake lasted 31.96 seconds in Hualien, where it was felt the longest. It rattled Taipei City for 23.72 seconds, the bureau said.
In Nanao, although the quake was more intense, it was only felt for 1.34 seconds.
An aftershock induced by the second quake, measuring 5.1, struck at 4:28am off the coast of Ilan.
The aftershock was felt as a 2.0 in Hualien County’s Hoping Township (和平) and Nanao and as a 1.0 in Taipei, Ilan and Dadu (大肚), Taichung County.
The 6.3 quake was the strongest temblor recorded this year. No earthquakes exceeding 6.0 struck Taiwan last year.
Before that, five earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0 or higher struck Taiwan in 2006.
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