The nation was shaken by two earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5 yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday.
The first one, a magnitude 5.1 temblor, occurred at 4:19am, at a depth of 132.5km in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), bureau data showed.
The largest intensity generated by the quake reached level 2, which was recorded in New Taipei City, Toucheng Township (頭城) in Yilan County, Sibao (西寶) in Hualien County and Lishan (梨山) in Taichung.
A level 1 intensity was recorded in Yilan City, Taipei, Hohuanshan in Nantou County and three other localities.
The earthquake also triggered the national public warning system, which issued a presidential alert message and caused the emergency alarms on people’s smartphones to go off.
The second one, a magnitude 5.2 quake, occurred at 12:32pm, with the epicenter 44.1km south of the Hualien County Government building and at a depth of 35.7km, the bureau said.
The largest intensity reached level 4, which was recorded in Jichi (磯崎) in Hualien County.
The two earthquakes were not related, Seismological Center Director Chen Kuo-chang (陳國昌) said.
The epicenter of the quake in Gongliao was on the subduction zone between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate, and it occurred as a result of the collision and extrusion of the two plates, Chen said, adding that similar quakes had happened in the same region.
Aftershocks after the earthquake are expected to be very few in the next few days, because the epicenter was more than 100km underground, he said.
The earthquake in Hualien also occurred because of the collision between the two main tectonic plates, Chen said, adding that the epicenter was near the coast of Hualien, where earthquakes frequently occur.
Bureau data showed that 32 earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5 have been recorded in the zone since 2000, including a magnitude 5 temblor on Feb. 15, he said.
People in Hualien and Taitung should beware of one to two aftershocks of magnitude 4 or more occurring in the next three days, he said.
The magnitude 5.1 earthquake did not affect the operation of the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao, the Atomic Energy Council said in a statement.
Chen added that the public warning system should not have sent out an alert for the magnitude 5.1 earthquake, as the largest intensity it generated did not reach level 3 to level 4.
The computer appeared to have trouble reading information from an earthquake located at a deep subduction zone, which the bureau would try to address, he said.
The bureau apologized for the inconvenience caused by the confusion, it said.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS