Taiwan was shaken by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the most important to hit the island in at the very least 25 years, killing at the very least 4 folks, wounding dozens, and prompting a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines.
The earthquake, which struck about 8 a.m. native time (8 p.m. AST), jolted the island severely, inflicting constructing collapses within the southern metropolis and triggering tsunami warnings for southern Japanese islands.
Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring company reported a magnitude of seven.2 on the epicentre 18 kilometres (11 miles) south of Taiwan’s Hualien Metropolis. In distinction, the Japan Meteorological Company and the US Geological Survey reported a magnitude of seven.5, with an estimated depth of 35 km.
Video video confirmed buildings in Hualien experiencing vital tremors, with one multi-story constructing, which housed each corporations and residents, partially falling.
The earthquake additionally generated sturdy vibrations on a bridge, delaying folks’s morning commutes by automobile and bicycle.
In line with witnesses, aftershocks may nonetheless be felt in Taipei, with at the very least 25 aftershocks recorded by Taiwan’s central climate service.
The Taipei metropolis authorities has acquired no complaints of injury, and the town’s MRT was again up and working shortly after, nevertheless power supplier Taipower mentioned that greater than 87,000 households in Taiwan had been nonetheless with out energy.
Taiwan’s high-speed rail operator said that no injury or accidents occurred on its trains, however trains might be delayed whereas checks are carried out.
In line with Taiwan’s Central Climate Administration, the earthquake had the second-highest energy of an “Higher 6” in Hualien County on a scale of 1 to 7.
In line with the Japan Meteorological Company, most unreinforced concrete-block partitions collapse in an Higher 6 earthquake, and people can not stand or transfer with out crawling.
In September 1999, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan, killing 2,400 folks and destroying 5,000 buildings. Taiwan lies alongside the Pacific Ring of Hearth, a line of seismic faults the place most earthquakes happen.
