SEISMICITY
Earthquake jolts Chiayi
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 12:49pm yesterday, according to the Central Weather Bureau. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter of the temblor was in Minxiong Township (民雄), the largest township in Chiayi County, about 14km northeast of Chiayi County Hall, at a depth of 7.7km, the bureau’s Seismology Center said. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Chiayi City, Chiayi County and Yunlin County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 3 in Tainan and 2 in Changhua County, the bureau said.
SOCIETY
Man survives cardiac arrest
A Japanese national rescued from an apartment fire in Taipei yesterday was revived by doctors after suffering an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, local police said. The man, 25-year-old television personality Yuta Okubo, is breathing, police said. Firefighters had rescued Okubo from the fifth floor of an apartment building on Tonghe E Street in Shilin District (士林) after responding to an emergency call at about 3am, police said. Okubo was rushed to the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest and was resuscitated by hospital staff, police said. The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has been contacted to help inform Okubo’s family in Japan about the incident, police said, adding that the cause of the fire was still being investigated. The fire, which was extinguished at about 3:25am, appears to have started from an air-conditioner unit in one of the rooms on the floor, media reports said.
CRIME
Woman sentenced for life
A woman who caused a fire in a Kaohsiung City building that killed 46 people and injured 41 in 2021 was handed a life sentence by the Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court on Wednesday. The court found Huang Ke-ke (黃格格) guilty of homicide after judging that on Oct. 14, 2021, she deliberately left burning residue from mosquito repellent incense on a sofa in her boyfriend’s apartment, in the Cheng Chung Cheng (城中城) building, with the burning ashes sparking a fire that spread through the building. The ruling sentenced Huang to life imprisonment and disenfranchisement for life at about 9am Wednesday through a remote court hearing. There was sufficient evidence to prove that Huang meant to kill people, the court said. The case can be appealed.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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