A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck off northeastern Taiwan at 12:37pm yesterday, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The hypocenter of the temblor was at sea, about 16.9km east-southeast of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 66.8km, the data showed.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
The earthquake’s intensity was highest in Yilan County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale.
The quake measured an intensity of 3 in Hualien County, New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Taichung, Hsinchu City and Miaoli County, the CWA said.
The tremor was probably an aftershock of a magnitude 7.0 quake on Dec. 27 last year, given the two events’ similar locations and the two-month interval consistent with an aftershock sequence, CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) told reporters.
December’s quake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter at sea about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed.
Further aftershocks cannot be ruled out, although their surface impact would be limited given the main quake’s considerable depth, Wu said.
Meanwhile, a total lunar eclipse will coincide with the Lantern Festival on Tuesday next week, giving skywatchers across Taiwan a rare chance to see a “blood moon,” the CWA said.
The eclipse will already be under way when the moon rises at about 5:50pm, when some of its surface will be darkened by the Earth’s shadow, the agency said.
The total eclipse will last from 7:04pm to 8:03pm, when the full moon is expected to turn dark red, it said.
The eclipse will peak at 7:34pm, and span 4 hours and 35 minutes, it said.
A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth passes between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow that gives the moon a reddish-copper hue during totality, the CWA said.
The previous total lunar eclipse visible in Taiwan occurred on Sept. 7 last year, it said, adding that after next week, the next one fully visible from Taiwan will be on Dec. 31, 2028.
No special equipment is needed for the event, although telescopes can enhance the view, the CWA said, recommending locations with a clear eastern horizon.
A live Webcast is to begin at 5:40pm on Tuesday on the CWA’s Web site, it added.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS