Big aftershocks rock Hualien county in Taiwan weeks after 7.3 earthquake

Name: Magnitude 6.3 earthquake among dozens to rattle Taiwan
Uploaded: 2024-04-23T03:09:52.000Z
Duration: 1 min 40 s
Description: Magnitude 6.3 earthquake among dozens to rattle Taiwan

Two empty buildings collapsed after two quakes, at magnitudes of 6.0 and 6.3, were felt early on Tuesday morning

Shocks could continue for six months in the aftermath of the earthquake that killed at least 16 people on April 3

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Magnitude 6.3 earthquake among dozens to rattle Taiwan

Hayley Wongin BeijingandLawrence Chungin Taipei

Published: 11:09am, 23 Apr 2024Updated: 4:28pm, 23 Apr 2024

Taiwan’s Hualien county was hit by a series of earthquakes – with the highest magnitude at 6.3 – in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The county, along the east coast of the island, experienced the two strongest shocks in about six minutes, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration which recorded a 6.0-magnitude quake at 2.26am at a depth of 10km (6.21 miles).

A second 6.3-magnitude earthquake was recorded at 2.32am, at a depth of 5.5km (3.42 miles), according to the administration.

The shocks, near the coastal city of Hualien in the north of the county, were part of the aftershocks from the 7.3-magnitude quake earlier this month, said Wu Chien-fu, director of the administration’s Seismological Centre, at a morning briefing.

The earthquake on April 3 was Taiwan’s strongest in 25 years, killing at least 17 and injuring more than 1,000 people. More than a thousand shocks were recorded between then and Tuesday morning, Wu said.

About half of the aftershocks, with magnitudes of 5 or above, occurred from Monday evening to Tuesday morning. The historic Hotel Fouquet and the previously damaged General’s House – a Japanese colonial building – collapsed, but were empty, local media reported. Schools and work in Hualien county were suspended on Tuesday.