Taiwan would continue to be under the influence of a geomagnetic storm this morning, potentially causing errors with GPS and disrupting the transmission of high-frequency radio waves, Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday.
The storm began on Friday affecting communications worldwide, for which the administration issued a geomagnetic storm forecast for the first time.
As of yesterday morning, the storm’s effects had persisted 33 hours after it reached the level of an “extreme” geomagnetic storm on Saturday, CWA Observation Division specialist Tsai Yu-ming (蔡禹明) yesterday told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
Communications would still be affected by the geomagnetic storm this morning, Tsai said, adding that effects would gradually weaken afterward.
Both Taiwan Power Co and Taiwan Space Agency had been told that they needed to monitor power system operation and satellite communication and prepare to enforce contingency plans, Tsai said.
No abnormalities have been detected in the nation’s power system and satellite communication as of yesterday, he said.
Further observation would be needed after the storm to determine whether there has been any damage to both systems, he said.
The scale of the storm’s effects is comparable to the geomagnetic storm that occurred on Oct. 28, 2003, which persisted for 60 hours.
The storm was caused by activity from a group of sunspots in the AR3664 area of the Sun’s surface, the diameter of which is equivalent to 17 Earths.
“The area has multiple flares, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, in which a large number of plasma-charged particles ejected from the sun’s surface into space. When these charged particles approach the earth, they will squeeze the earth’s magnetic field,” Tsai said.
“Most synchronous satellites are within the protection of the Earth’s magnetic fields, but when there is a strong geomagnetic storm, synchronous satellites may be affected by high-energy particles,” he added.
Coronal mass ejections also led to the occurrence of northern lights, which were observed in many countries around the world yesterday, Tsai said.
“The colorful northern lights are like Mother’s Day gifts from God,” Tsai said.
The various colors are the result of collisions between high-energy charged particles and different gases in the atmosphere, Tsai added.
The magnetic north pole is near Greenland, so northern lights were mostly reported in Europe and North America.
Some people in northern Mexico, which is around the same latitude as Taiwan, said they have seen the northern lights as well.
Northern lights cannot be seen in Taiwan, because it is too far from the magnetic north pole and is at the low magnetic latitude, Tsai said.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS