The Central Weather Bureau said that a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit off the coast of Hualien County early yesterday morning, adding that it was not connected to the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck Nepal on Saturday.
The bureau said the offshore earthquake struck at 4:01am and its epicenter was 83.9km east of the Hualien County Government building.
It was a shallow earthquake, occurring just 16km below the Earth’s surface, the bureau said.
AFTERSHOCK
Seismological Center Deputy Director Lu Pei-ling (呂佩玲) said that the earthquake was an aftershock of the magnitude 6.3 temblor that hit the nation on Monday last week, adding that the two earthquakes were similar in terms of depth and the location of their epicenters.
The bureau said yesterday’s earthquake reached level 3 intensity in Yilan County, while Hualien, Taipei and Hsinchu recorded level 2 intensity.
Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou and Chiayi counties all recorded level 1 intensity, it said.
Lu said that aftershocks could last about a month after a main earthquake occurs.
She said that the earthquake that hit Nepal occurred because the Indian Plate pushed north into the Eurasian Plate, whereas the earthquake in Taiwan was caused by the Philippine Plate pushing the Eurasian Plate.
The earthquake in Nepal was the largest to hit that nation since 1934, and it caused catastrophic damage because there has not been a release in energy from the Earth’s crust in that area for a long time, she said.
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