Taiwan was shaken by a collection of earthquakes on Monday and early Tuesday, the strongest with a magnitude of 6.3, partially toppling two buildings and retaining frightened residents up in a single day. The tremors had been aftershocks from the magnitude 7.4 quake that killed 17 folks three weeks in the past, the authorities mentioned.
The tremors started simply after 5 p.m. on Monday native time with a 5.5 magnitude quake in Hualien County on Taiwan’s east coast, in accordance with Wu Chien-fu, the director of the Taiwanese Central Climate Administration’s Seismological Middle. It was adopted by a collection of smaller tremors some minutes later in the identical space.
Two buildings within the metropolis of Hualien partially collapsed, some residents had been evacuated and colleges and places of work in Hualien County had been ordered to shut on Tuesday due to the specter of persevering with tremors, in accordance with native information shops. No accidents or deaths had been reported by Tuesday morning.
Mr. Wu mentioned at a information convention on Monday night time that the quakes had been aftershocks from the lethal April 3 quake, which was the strongest to hit Taiwan in 25 years. The epicenter of that earthquake was additionally within the Hualien County space.
By Tuesday morning, greater than 180 shocks had been recorded within the earlier 24 hours, in accordance with the Central Climate Administration. The strongest had been at 2:26 a.m., at magnitude 6, off Taiwan’s japanese coast, and a couple of:32 a.m., at magnitude 6.3, about 10 miles from Hualien County. The most recent massive tremor got here at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday, in accordance with the Central Climate Administration.
Chen Mei-hui, 58, a retired saleswoman who lives in Hualien, mentioned the tremors had put her in a “very torturous temper.”
“I’ve been unable to sleep properly for the reason that earthquake final month,” she mentioned on Tuesday morning. “We are able to solely pray that our home is powerful sufficient to get us by means of this tough time.”
Chris Buckley contributed reporting.
