Taiwan hit by aftershocks following deadly 6.8-magnitude earthquake
- A 5.9-magnitude quake in Hualien on Monday was the 74th aftershock after quake struck Taitung county on Sunday
- Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang visits Hualien to show concern for quake victims and offer cash aid for people admitted to hospital
A 5.9-magnitude quake was recorded in the eastern county of Hualien at 10.07am on Monday, the 74th aftershock – and the fifth with a magnitude greater than 5 – after a 6.8-magnitude quake struck neighbouring Taitung county at 2.44pm the day before, according to the seismological centre of Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau.
“Aftershocks at the magnitude of over 5 will continue to shake southeastern Taiwan in the next three days and the public should remain cautious,” centre director Chen Kuo-chang said.
He said smaller tremors might continue for weeks as the powerful quake slowly released its energy.
01:55
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According to Chen, Sunday’s quake, which struck Taitung’s Chishang township, was likely to be related to the fault of the island’s central mountain range – a jolt that had nothing to do with the 6.8-magnitude one that hit Luding in the mainland Chinese province of Sichuan on September 5.
He said the fault under the central mountain range in Hualien had not released energy for a long time, which explained why two powerful quakes occurred consecutively on Saturday and Sunday.
While the 6.4-magnitude quake recorded in Taitung on Saturday did not create any casualties, the event on Sunday wreaked havoc on neighbouring Hualien county, causing a three-storey building housing a convenience store to collapse, a bridge to break into several parts and a train to derail.
A worker at a cement factory was crushed to death by falling objects and a further 146 people were injured in quake-related accidents, including in the partial collapse of buildings and structures, according to the island’s Central Emergency Operation Centre.
Sunday’s quake was the eighth with a magnitude over 6 this year and the largest recorded in Taitung in 50 years, seismological officials said.
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It brought serious damage to railway tracks, the Taiwan Railways Administration said, adding that it had to suspend trains between Hualien and Taitung until the damaged sections were repaired, work expected to be finished by Tuesday.
Schools in parts of Taitung and Hualien were also suspended because of damage to campus structures. The Taitung government said worry over higher-intensity aftershocks was another reason to suspend classes.
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Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang headed to Hualien on Monday to show concern for quake victims and offer cash aid for those admitted to hospital.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen also said government agencies should do their utmost to help victims and to carry out rehabilitation measures as soon as possible.
The quake in Taiwan on Sunday caused relatively few casualties – and the injuries were less serious – compared with the quake in the mainland’s Sichuan province that killed 93 people, with a further 25 unaccounted for.
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China’s Sichuan province hit by 6.8 magnitude quake, killing at least 21 people
Seismology experts said the island was fortunate not to have high-rise buildings or large factories in the known earthquake belt and that the sparse population of Hualien and Taitung meant the quake caused fewer casualties.
Sunday’s quake was felt across Taiwan with buildings in Taipei shaking briefly, sending panicked people rushing to the streets.
But in Taipei 101, one of the world’s tallest buildings and Taipei’s landmark, workers were unfazed.
A manager of the skyscraper said it felt safer to stay in Taipei 101 during earthquakes.
“This is due mainly to the wind damper that helps maintain the balance of the tower,” the manager said.
The skyscraper has a huge wind damper in the shape of a giant golden ball beneath its 89-floor observation deck which generates reaction force to negate any shock or vibration caused by outside forces such as earthquakes and typhoons, according to Taipei 101.
A visitor, who was on the observation deck when the quake struck, agreed.
“It was terrifying when the building started shaking, but compared with the time I was home and my 10-floor apartment building shook, it was not as violent,” the visitor said in a Facebook post.
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Meanwhile, some 600 people, including local tourists who were stranded on a mountainside in Hualien descended safely after being trapped overnight after falling rocks blocked roads, police said.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.
More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.
