The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday warned of aftershocks over the next three days after two earthquakes rocked Hualien County in eastern Taiwan early yesterday morning.
The first quake, with a magnitude of 5.7, struck at 1:14am off the coast of Hualien, about 5.4 kilometers north-northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 17.5 kilometers.
It registered an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou and Yilan counties on Taiwan’s 7-tier felt intensity scale, the CWA said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
The agency said the quake was an independent event and the strongest recorded in Taiwan so far this year. It added that aftershocks of magnitude 5 to 5.5 cannot be ruled out in the coming days.
The second earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.8, occurred at 5:23am in a similar offshore location, about 8.1 kilometers north-northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.7 kilometers.
It registered an intensity of 3 in Hualien and Yilan, and 2 in parts of Taichung and Nantou, said the CWA.
No casualties had been reported.
In other news, the CWA yesterday said snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山), Taiwan’s highest peak, at 5:55pm on Saturday, later turning to sleet and stopping early yesterday, with accumulation reaching about 2 centimeters as of 9am.
Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) predicted warm weather across the nation today, with localized sporadic showers in the northern and central regions, and cloudy to sunny skies in other parts of Taiwan.
A weather front arriving tomorrow is expected to bring showers or thunderstorms to the northern part of Taiwan, with a chance of strong winds and sudden heavy rainfall, he said.
The weather across Taiwan would turn cloudy to sunny as the front weakens on Wednesday, with sunny skies to continue through the week, Wu predicted.
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