The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a sea warning for Tropical Storm Wipha at 11:30am today, warning of heavy rainfall in eastern Taiwan over the weekend.
As of 11am, the storm's center was about 560km southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point, and was moving in a west-northwesterly path at 23kph, the CWA said.
The storm is packing sustained winds of 72kph and gusts up to 101kph, the CWA said.
Photo: Central Weather Administration
Wipha is forecast to move toward waters off northern Luzon, pass through the Bashi Channel and enter the South China Sea, the weather agency said, adding that it is expected to come closest to Taiwan tomorrow.
Several ferry operators today announced the suspension of services over the weekend as the storm approaches Taiwan.
Ferries between Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港) and Siaoliuciou Island (小琉球) are to be halted after 9am tomorrow and canceled on Sunday due to safety concerns, five operators said.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
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