Aftershocks are not expected in relation to a magnitude 5.1 earthquake that struck Chiayi County at 3:51am today, a top seismologist at the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
Wu Chien-fu (吳健富), director of the CWA's Seismological Center, said that the early-morning quake, whose epicenter was located in Meishan Township (梅山) at a depth of 12.3km, was a "fracture zone earthquake" caused by tectonic collisions, and was therefore unlikely to cause aftershocks.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
About 70 percent of Taiwan's earthquakes occur in the main island's less-populated eastern half due to collisions between the Philippine and Eurasian tectonic plates, Wu said.
According to the CWA, the earthquake's intensity was highest in Chiayi County, Chiayi City, and neighboring Yunlin and Nantou counties, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's 7-tier scale.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Wu also said that the earthquake was "unrelated" to the Meishan fault, a geological feature closely associated with the 1906 Meishan earthquake — Taiwan's third most-deadly seismic event — that claimed about 1,260 lives.
Wu had warned in April that a Meishan fault earthquake had not occurred for more than 120 years, so the "accumulated potential energy is indeed worth paying attention to."
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