More aftershocks could occur in southern Taiwan following four consecutive earthquakes that shook the area last night and early today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
Three quakes of magnitudes of 4.7, 3.5 and 4.7 last night hit Kaohsiung's Jiasian District (甲仙) at 10:49pm, 10:59pm and 11:19pm respectively, at depths of 8km to 8.2km, CWA data showed.
A fourth quake of magnitude 4 at 4:24am today hit the nearby Nansi District (楠西) in Tainan at a depth of 8.9km, the data showed.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
The first, third and fourth earthquakes measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, but mostly in mountainous, relatively sparsely populated areas. The intensity level gauges the actual degree of shaking at a particular location. Level 4 is strong enough to wake people up and cause unstable indoor items to fall.
The Jiasian quakes were extremely shallow, causing residents near the epicenters to feel strong shaking, Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) said.
The quakes were caused by stress adjustments along the boundaries of the Philippine Sea Plate and Eurasian Plate, which generate tectonic forces that pull in different directions near the epicenters, making the area geologically complex and fragile, Chiu said.
The quakes are part of stress readjustments following the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that hit Dapu Township (大埔) on Jan. 21, Chiu said, adding that smaller earthquakes could occur in the coming days as nearby faults release accumulated stress.
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