One person was injured and a highway bridge was damaged after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck off the southeast coast of Taiwan at 1:41am yesterday. Officials said aftershocks of up to magnitude 6.0 could occur in the next three days.
An 88-year-old man in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱) was taken to a local hospital after being injured by shards of glass that fell on him during the earthquake.
The Yuxing Bridge (玉興橋) on the Suhua Highway (Highway No. 9) was temporarily closed after it partially collapsed during the quake, the Directorate-General of Highways said, adding that a stretch of the highway between Changbin Township and Hualien County’s Yuli Township (玉里) was also temporarily shut.
Photo courtesy of Yang Chin-ming
Fallen rocks and debris were found on Highway 11 and other highways in mountainous areas.
Taiwan Power Co said that 1,203 households in Pingtung County reported power outages immediately after the quake due to a tripped distribution feeder.
Power was restored by 5am yesterday, the company said.
Photo courtesy of a member of the public via CNA
Junior-high and elementary schools across the nation reported damage totaling NT$41.54 million (US$1.45 million), Ministry of Education data showed.
The quake destroyed a shrimp farmer’s pond in Taitung, washing away about 100,000 shrimp and causing estimated damage of NT$2 million. Dozens of homes in Hualien and Taitung counties were also damaged.
Semiconductor manufacturing firms said their overall operations were not disrupted by the earthquake.
Photo courtesy of Liu Shih-hung via CNA
The Central Weather Bureau’s Seismology Center said the quake was the strongest recorded so far this year.
Its epicenter was 62.6km south of Hualien County Hall at a depth of 30.6km, center data showed.
A magnitude 6.1 aftershock occurred at 1:43am, with the epicenter 61.2km southwest of Hualien County Hall at a depth of 16.3km.
Photo courtesy of Yuli Township Government Office
Three earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or larger have occurred in Taiwan so far this year — the two that hit yesterday and another that struck off the east coast on Jan. 3. On average, Taiwan experiences about 2.5 magnitude 6.0 or larger quakes each year.
Seismology Center Director Chen Kuo-chang (陳國昌) told reporters that yesterday’s main earthquake was the fifth-largest that the nation has experienced since the Jiji earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, which measured magnitude 7.3.
Aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 to 6.0 could occur over the next three days, Chen said.
Photo courtesy of Chihsi Borough Warden Liu Ying-kai
As of 6pm yesterday, the main earthquake had generated one aftershock exceeding magnitude 6.0; four aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 to 6.0; 39 ranging from magnitude 4.0 to 5.0; and 22 measuring magnitude 3.0 to 4.0, Chen told the Taipei Times.
“The earthquake generated more aftershocks than we had expected,” he said.
The epicenter was in a geologically fractured zone between the Philippine Sea Plate and Euroasian Plate, Chen said, adding that the two magnitude 6.0 earthquakes were the two largest that have been recorded in the zone in nearly half a century.
“Yesterday’s earthquake was caused by a collision of the two rigid tectonic plates,” Chen said. “When the plates accumulate seismic energy over time, they need to find a spot to release it, which could lead to a large quake. This is what we have seen with the earthquake today.”
Seismic movements have occurred more frequently since 2020, Chen said, adding that many experts agree that the “Pacific Ring of Fire” has entered a seismically active phase.
Many people said that they received an earthquake alert on their mobile phones before they felt shaking.
Chen said that the alert system gave people 15 seconds to react before the main earthquake struck, thanks to a significant increase in the number of seismic activity observation stations that have been built since 2020.
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