Taiwan Rattled by 80 Earthquakes, No Casualties Reported

TAIPEI: More than 80 earthquakes, the strongest of 6.3 magnitude, struck Taiwan’s east coast starting Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday and some caused shaking of buildings in the capital Taipei, the island’s weather administration said.

The fire department in Hualien said early on Tuesday that a hotel which had already been damaged on April 3 and was no longer in operation was now slightly leaning on its side.

However, there were no reports of any casualties.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.The quakes were centred on the largely rural eastern county of Hualien, where on April 3 at least 14 people died after a 7.2 magnitude temblor.

That earlier quake, led to train services being suspended across the island of 23 million people, as well as subway service in Taipei, where a newly constructed above-ground line partially separated. The national legislature, a converted school built before World War II, also had damage to walls and ceilings.

Traffic along the east coast was brought to virtual standstill, with landslides and falling debris hitting tunnels and highways in the mountainous region.

Despite the earlier quake striking at the height of the morning rush hour just before 8 a.m., the initial panic faded quickly on the island, which is regularly rocked by temblors and prepares for them with drills at schools and notices issued via public media and mobile phone.

Authorities said they had only expected a relatively mild quake of magnitude 4 and accordingly did not send out alerts.

Still, the earthquake was strong enough to scare people who are used to such shaking.

“Earthquakes are a common occurrence, and I’ve grown accustomed to them. But today was the first time I was scared to tears by an earthquake,” Taipei resident Hsien-hsuen Keng said. ”I was awakened by the earthquake. I had never felt such intense shaking before.”

Taiwan has been jolted by hundreds of aftershocks since then.

More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.
(REUTERS)