Nine moderate earthquakes shook Hualien County in the early hours yesterday, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB), adding that no damage or casualties resulted from the quakes.
All the earthquakes, ranging from magnitude 3.1 to 4.1, were centered in an offshore area 30km northeast of Hualien County Hall, the bureau’s Seismology Center said. They occurred successively between 1am and 4am, it said.
“Although the quakes were all felt at an intensity of between one and four, there was no damage,” said Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋), director of the center.
Since Monday, a series of 34 detectable earthquakes have jolted the areas 27km to 33km northeast of Hualien County Hall, Kuo said, adding that Hualien was one of the most earthquake-prone areas in Taiwan.
However, Kuo said, the high frequency of earthquakes in Hualien in recent days was nothing unusual.
“They were all normal releases of tectonic energy,” he added.
Official data show that there were frequent moderate quakes centered in Hualien’s offshore areas in the second half of July 2008, in June and July 2009, and in February this year.
“Because earthquakes are unpredictable, there is no saying whether a strong earthquake will follow a series of mild ones,” Kuo said.
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