A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s east coast at 2:23pm yesterday, causing train delays and affecting more than 3,000 railway passengers.
No damage or casualties were reported as of press time last night.
The quake’s epicenter was 89.5km east of Hualien County Hall at a depth of 27.5km, Central Weather Bureau data showed.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Government
The largest intensity generated by the temblor, which was felt nationwide, reached level 3, which was detected in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, the bureau said.
The bureau recorded two aftershocks: a magnitude 5.4 quake at 2:24pm and a magnitude 5.2 quake at 3:45pm.
Seventeen of the Taiwan Railways Administration’s train services were delayed because of the quake, affecting about 2,680 passengers, the agency said.
Taoyuan Metro Corp reported that 16 of its airport train services were disrupted by the quake, affecting 574 passengers.
The epicenter was located at the north edge of the Nanao Sea Basin, close to the location of a magnitude 6 earthquake that occurred on Jan. 3, Bureau Seismological Center Director Chen Kuo-chang (陳國昌) said.
While yesterday’s quake was the sixth one this year to exceed a magnitude 6, it was not related to the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that occurred on March 23, he said.
On average, Taiwan has two to three magnitude 6 earthquakes per year, bureau statistics showed.
“We are indeed seeing more frequent occurrences of earthquakes this year,” Chen said.
Since 1978, 21 earthquakes larger than magnitude 6 have been recorded in and around the Nanao Sea Basin, including yesterday’s quake.
Because of the basin’s distance from Taiwan proper, earthquakes that originate there generally lead to less building damage, he said.
Although aftershocks of magnitude 4 to 5 could continue to occur over the next five days, aftershocks larger than magnitude 5 are less likely to occur, Chen said.
The public warning system only issued an earthquake alert message to residents in Yilan County, as the county’s earthquake intensity was estimated to be close to level 4, the threshold for the system to issue a warning for quakes of a magnitude 5 or larger, he said, adding that a margin of error of about one level of intensity is acceptable.
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
Three human skeletons and artifacts believed to be about 400 years old were unearthed by construction workers at National Ilan University in Yilan County, the university said yesterday. The discoveries were made on May 10 as workers were digging to expand the College of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science’s facilities, the university said in a statement. The skeletons were found at three sites, along with glass beads, copper bells and rings, discs and a fish-shaped metal knot, it said. The find is likely connected to the “Old Baili Village” (擺厘舊社, Bai Li Jiu She), an as-yet-undiscovered Kavalan settlement that has been mentioned in
RSS