A major magnitude 7 earthquake rocked Tokyo yesterday as Japanese Emperor Akihito led Japan’s New Year celebrations by urging people to work together in rebuilding the nation after the quake-tsunami disaster in March
The temblor struck at 2:28pm with its epicenter at about 370km deep, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. The US Geological Survey put the depth at 348km.
Its epicenter was located near Torishima, a southwestern Pacific island about 560km south of Tokyo.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injury and no tsunami warning was issued.
The mid-afternoon quake swayed buildings in Tokyo and surrounding areas, but it did not disrupt the final of the Emperor’s Cup football tournament underway at the National Stadium.
“Some people, who were walking, did not seem to notice the quake,” a spokesman for Tokyo Disneyland said, adding that business went on as usual at the theme park after some rides were automatically shut down.
He did not give the number of visitors on the day, but estimated it at several tens of thousands.
Train runs and airline flights in and around the capital area were not affected.
A magnitude 9 earthquake and monster tsunami ravaged the country’s northeast coast on March 11 last year, killing more than 19,000 people and crippling the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which has since then been leaking radiation into the environment.
In a New Year message, Emperor Akihito said: “Our country is now going through difficult times because of the earthquake and other factors.”
“But I hope that the people’s hearts will always be with the afflicted and that everyone will persevere and work together to build a brighter tomorrow,” he added.
Wishes for recovery appeared to have dominated as the new year started in Japan with tens of thousands of people flocking to Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples to offer money and pray for good fortune.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
RSS