Scientists urged the importance of earthquake preparedness yesterday following the second major quake to hit Taiwan in a little over a month.
Yesterday's quake, centered near Chiayi, originated on a different fault line than the 921 earthquake, the Central Weather Bureau reported. The temblor registered 6.4 on the Richter scale and was followed by dozens of aftershocks.
According to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB, ??央?eth>象局), the preliminary epicenter for the earthquake, which struck at 10:19am yesterday, was 2.5km north of Chiayi City.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMESN
"I would say the big tremor this morning made the Chianan Plain (
Scientists said the quake was caused by unexpected movement of the Meishan fault (梅?s斷層), an active fault in Chiayi County where major earthquakes happen frequently. According to available records, the fault, which is less than 20km long, has been the source of several major tremors in Taiwan's history, including one measuring 5.03 on the Richter scale in 1994, one at 5.6 on 1907, and one estimated at 7.1 in 1906.
"I'm not at all surprised by the quake on the Meishan fault because the records give a clear warning," said Tsai Yi-ben (
Taiwan experiences frequent earthquakes because of collisions between the Philippine and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are in continuous motion relative to each other, Tsai said.
The 150-km-long line where the two plates meet is located under the Taitung Valley (
Being close to the this boundary line, the geological structures west of the valley -- mainly in areas stretching from Miaoli (
"Unlike the 921 earthquake, not too much evidence of [yesterday's] Meishan fault movements can be seen because the epicenter was 12.1km below the surface," said Tsai, referring to difficulties in ascertaining more details about the active fault.
Scientists have been working on collecting data about the movements of the Cholungpu fault (
As for other active faults on the island, Tsai said scientists have been monitoring them for decades and have still failed to predict tremors.
"The most important thing is that people on the island should be well prepared, and the fact that Taiwan is in an earthquake-prone area should not been ignored," he said.
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