A magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit the northeast of Taiwan yesterday afternoon and was felt across most of the country, the Central Weather Bureau’s Seismological Center said.
The epicenter was in Yilan County, 49km southeast of New Taipei City Hall. It was the strongest earthquake felt on Taiwan proper so far this year, according to the center.
The quake, which struck at 4:35pm, had a depth of 76km and intensity levels ranging from one to four.
The intensity of the quake was four in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東) and three in Yilan City, Hualien City, Taipei City, New Taipei City (新北市) and Keelung.
Statistics from the center showed that four earthquakes with a magnitude of 5 and above have hit the nation so far this year.
The previous three had magnitudes of 5.5, 5.8 and 6.2, but did not affect the main island of the country as much because their epicenters were all offshore.
After yesterday’s quake, the Taipei Metro system temporarily slowed train speeds to 25kph, but resumed its medium and high-speed operations shortly after.
No casualties had been reported as of press time.
In September 1999, a magnitude 7.6 quake killed about 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the nation’s recent history.
Additional reporting by AFP
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