Four earthquakes rocked the nation yesterday morning, including a magnitude 4.4 temblor at 8am, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.
The 8am quake was triggered by a movement of the Okinawa Trough, CWB Seismology Center Director Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋) said.
As the epicenter of the quake was shallow and near to the greater Taipei area, it was felt by many in the capital, he said.
More than 80 earthquakes occurred in August and September, putting the two months among the highest 10 percent of seismically active months in Taiwan since sophisticated measurements began being taken in 1995. The largest number of quakes recorded in a single month was 162 in June 2012.
There is a possibility of a magnitude 6 earthquake occurring before the end of the year, but this would be within the normal range of seismic activity in Taiwan and the public has no need to be concerned, the CWB said.
In other news, warmer temperatures are expected in northern Taiwan starting today as the current period of rainy, chilly weather ends, the bureau said.
Daytime highs in the region could rise by 3°C to about 28°C, the bureau said, with temperatures reaching highs of 31°C over the weekend.
The rain might not ease up until tomorrow and is set to be most pronounced in Yilan and Hualien counties, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, central and southern Taiwan should continue to see warm and dry weather throughout the week, with tempartures between 22°C and 31°C, forecasters said.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry