The nation can expect another cold weekend this week as a cold air mass is expected to arrive on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
The front of the mass is expected to start affecting the nation tomorrow night, bringing showers to northern and central regions.
On Friday, the lows in these regions may fall to 13 degrees Celsius. The high in northern and northeastern regions, on the other hand, may reach 18 degrees Celsius or 19 degrees Celsius.
High temperatures in central and southern regions are forecast to drop to 23 degrees Celsius, whereas the high in the east may drop to around 21 degrees Celsius.
On the bright side, the current spell of sunshine should continue through tomorrow, with highs reaching 26 degrees Celsius or 27 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, the bureau's seismological center reported an earthquake at 2:09pm yesterday, with a magnitude of 5.6 on the Richter scale.
The bureau said the epicenter of the earthquake was located 19.7km southeast of its observation station in Hualien. The depth was 37.3km.
The quake was caused by energy release in an area where the Eurasian and Philippine tectonic plates press against each other.
The earthquake was felt nationwide. The highest intensity was felt in Yanliao (鹽寮), Hualien County, where it reached 4.0 on the Richter scale.
In Taipei the temblor was a 1.0.
Three earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or above have struck since the beginning of this month.
The previous two occurred on Jan. 2 and Jan. 5, with epicenters in Hualien and Ilan respectively.
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