Thu, Oct 01, 2020 page2

• Little impact from 5.9 earthquake

  • By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
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  Taiwan’s three nuclear power plants yesterday continued to operate normally, despite a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck the nation at 12:57pm, the Atomic Energy Council said.

  Data from the Central Weather Bureau showed that the epicenter of the earthquake — the third-largest detected by the bureau this year — was 39.4km northeast of the Yilan County Government offices, close to the Jinshan and Guosheng nuclear power plants in New Taipei City.

  The maximum acceleration detected by the seismograph at the Jinshan plant was 0.0011g, but the seismographs at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County did not detect any G-force, it said.

  All of the plants’ operating systems are functioning normally, the council added.

  “We will continue monitoring earthquakes to ensure the safety of the nuclear power plants,” it said.

  Taiwan Railways Administration, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp and Taoyuan Metro Corp also reported that the temblor did not disrupt services.

  The quake’s epicenter was about 106km deep, Seismological Center Director Chen Kuo-chang (陳國昌) said, adding that such a deep quake could only happen at a subduction zone of the Ryukyu Trench.

  Aftershocks triggered by the earthquake are likely to be very few and should not exceed magnitude 4.5, Chen said.

  “Earthquakes occurring at a subduction zone usually release their power in full the first time, and another earthquake would usually occur immediately afterward if the power was not fully released the first time. As such, there should not be many aftershocks following this quake,” he said.

  Aftershocks, if any, would only occur in the two next days, with the epicenter being far below the Earth’s surface, Chen said.

  Although the earthquake’s epicenter was off the northeast coast, its largest intensity was detected in Hsinchu County, reaching level 4, the bureau’s data showed.

  The intensity detected in Taipei, New Taipei City, Hualien County, Taoyuan and Miaoli City also reached level 3.

  “If it is a shallow quake, the closer a city is to the epicenter, the larger the intensity would be. However, the rule might not necessarily apply if it is a deep earthquake like this one,” said Lin Tzu-wei (林祖慰), a section chief at the center.

  The energy transmitted to Hsinchu was about the same as the level 3 cities, Lin said, adding that the county reached level 4 when the bureau converted the collected data to the intensity scale.

  Asked why only Taipei residents received an earthquake alert via their smartphones, Lin said that the system is set to send out alert messages to Taipei when a magnitude 5 or larger earthquake occurs and generates a level 3 intensity in the city, whereas residents in other cities and counties would only receive such a message when the intensity level reaches 4.

  “Compared with other cities and counties, Taipei has a higher population density and has relatively older buildings, which was why the system was set this way,” Lin said.

  The center would consider adjusting the system to send out alerts to all cities and counties when an earthquake generates a level 4 intensity, he said.
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